It's You
by JazS3lla
Summary: The Ministry of Magic decided to reinstate the Marriage Law after many years it has been buried in files and folders. They thought that it would somehow be the solution to the loss of over half of the population of the Wizarding world. Although a certain Veela is against it seeing that his mate is involved in it. Dramione Veela fic. Restarting the story again.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Malfoy Residence**

**~o~O~o~**

Draco Lucius Malfoy was feeling an ache in his abdomen for the past few days now.

"Bloody stomach…" He growled against his pillow as he clutched his stomach.

Draco was confirmed with an intestinal infection by their personal Healer, Healer Richard Ramirez, from St. Mungo's Hospital. Healer Richard gave him a potion that will gradually get rid of the infection and another potion that will replace all the infected tissues with new and healthy ones.

Draco curled up into a ball as another pain hit his stomach while he pulled his covers up to his chin, trying to shield himself from the cold atmosphere he felt all of a sudden. Having the intestinal infection, the effects of it to him was flu. The ache he felt would come back and go away then come back again. It was literally annoying him.

"Draco," Said boy heard his mother's voice from the door of his room. Narcissa Malfoy walked in his son's room with a small basin filled with water and a towelet, still with a worried expression of a mother for her son's state at the moment.

"Mother," Draco breathed heavily.

"Why can't the pain go away already?" Draco asked, sounding like a child. He winced when the pain started again.

Narcissa placed the bowl and the small towel on the bedside drawer of Draco before helping him sit up.

"Soon it will." She told him. Squeezing the towel and getting rid of the excess water, Narcissa started to wipe it on Draco, trying to cool down his rising temperature.

"I feel like a child, mother." Draco commented.

Narcissa smiled at that.

"Well you are my boy, Draco." Narcissa said, missing those times when her Draco was still very small. Draco looked away and winced again not from the pain but at the cool contact of the towel against his heated pale skin.

"There," Narcissa put back down the cloth after doing her work.

"I'll send dinner in a few, darling." Narcissa placed a kiss on his forehead before leaving his room with the bowl and towel at hand.

Putting on the new shirt his mother laid out for him, Draco laid his head back down on the pillow and let sleep take over him yet again.

**~o~O~o~**

"Lucius, how long will this last?" Narcissa was in her husband's home office looking all worked up while her husband looked calm and collected.

"A few days," Lucius replied coolly, reading the nightly edition of the Daily Prophet.

"A few days?" Narcissa almost screamed.

"That is what I said didn't I?" Her husband answered, flipping to the next page of the Prophet.

"He's been sick for the past _few days_ now!" Narcissa said, the volume of her voice rising.

Lucius just kept quiet.

"Is there any potion?" She asked him again.

"For what, dear?" He asked her.

"The aches, for the flu? His fever? Anything?!" Narcissa said.

"Please, dear. The boy will be fine. He's just going through 'the' stages." Lucius said.

Narcissa only scowled at him.

"What?" Lucius looked at the scowling woman. "When I was his age and going through it my mother didn't even bother treating me with any potions to help me with the pain I felt." Lucius had now put down the paper he has been reading for the past few minutes and focused his attention on their conversation.

"She knew it was natural for me, back then, to go through it all." He added.

"Well, Lucius," Narcissa answered. "I am not like your mother. And you," Narcissa pointed at him. "-are not Draco."

The Veela in Lucius felt the anger boiling in his mate as she walked out of the room and slamming the door of his office behind her.

The usual calm and happy Narcissa Malfoy was looking worried even if her husband assured her that their son will be fine.

**~o~O~o~**

Narcissa watched as Healer Richard waved his wand above Draco's sleeping form.

"Lady Malfoy," Healer Richard called her attention.

Narcissa looked at him.

"Young Malfoy is now well on the way to recovery." He informed the worried mother.

"He just has to continue on drinking the potions I require him to drink, and by the end of this week, he'll be as good as new." The Healer added before packing his things.

"Thank you." Narcissa thanked the Healer before he left.

Brushing the blond hair away from his son's face, Narcissa stood up and left as well.

**~o~O~o~**

"_Draco! Help me, please!" A girl pleaded him. Draco could not recognize the face as it was blurred._

_She kept asking for his help until she was dragged away from him by a larger black hooded figure. The girl screamed and Draco felt his heart pound. His legs suddenly made him run after the girl and the figure. The screams the girl let out made his chest heavy. He felt somewhat hurt._

_Suddenly, the hooded form stopped running and let his wand out then pointed it at the girl's head._

Before Draco knew it, teeth clenching pain brought him back to reality.

"Draco!" Narcissa suddenly came into view, Lucius trailing behind her.

Draco hadn't realized he had been screaming.

When Draco's mother attempted to go near him, his father stopped her by putting an arm before her before she took another step forward to their child. Draco was not confused of his actions though. He knew that he just loves to see his own son writhe in pain. Draco learned this from his childhood experiences. Whenever Lucius would punish Draco, he would frown but most of the times, he would be smiling down at him.

When Narcissa was stopped by her husband on her attempt to approach Draco, she looked at her husband.

Lucius explained to her how dangerous it would be if she got near a Veela on his/her transformation.

What felt like forever, the pain Draco felt suddenly stopped and he felt empty, like there was a missing piece in his puzzle.

Without another thought in mind, he just blacked out from the world.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I am going to try this story again and I am sorry for the sudden deleting of this story. If you are going to ask as to why I deleted it, just PM me. Before I end it here, THANK YOU TO WriteAllAboutIt for giving me back my confidence back and before I forget, thank you to those who also read my other stories (especially I'm Not Like Him - which is still staying strong and to those four people who reviewed my other story, Finally Found You: ally, GuinevereTopaz, SpottedPelt of ThunderClan and Pug 1998 thank you to all...)

You can follow me at twitter: JazEstrella22 (you can ask me there with questions too)

And in case you may wonder with my surname, Estrella (it's Spanish) but I'm not from Spain. I'm from the Philippines.

To the Filipinos out there, napanood niyo ba yung GGV nung Sunday? guest niya si Mario Maurer! XD

To others, thank you again, and please do review :) I can't wait to read the reviews (:


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Granger Residence**

**~o~O~o~**

Ever since Jean Granger died, Jeremy Granger have been heavily drinking, being brutal to his daughter and getting into more bar fights than expected.

The neighbors of Mr. Granger have already reported loud screams and shouts and sometimes disturbing loud crashes of some sort that came from their residence that sometimes occurred at night time when everyone in the neighborhood were tucked away in their beds already fast asleep.

They would all be awoken all of a sudden by the noise created in the house of the Grangers later at dawn.

Some elderly neighbors were concerned of a certain Hermione Granger being in the same household as her father was. They were worried about how Hermione was 'helpless' against her father, though the neighbors do not know that Hermione wasn't that all helpless since they do not know that she is a witch and that she was a magic wand.

When some authorities came in to pay them a little visit, they observed that everything seems to be in normal condition and that nothing unusual was seen in their home. But still, Mrs. Rose Johnson, one of the elder neighbors who reported of the noise heard, was still concerned for Hermione.

**~o~O~o~**

"Hermione!" A man's voice suddenly boomed from downstairs, startling the girl who was concentrated in her reading and the Wolf-dog beside her.

"Hermione!" The man called yet again but only louder this time, making the dog growl at the sound being heard.

Shushing her pet and closing the book she had, Hermione Granger quickly ran down the stairs to where Jeremy Granger, her father, was before he could get any angrier. When she arrived at the living room, she found him lying on the couch in front of the television watching things that were unnecessary and contained nonsense. There were empty cans and almost empty bottles of beer lying all around the room and the left over back ribs they had for dinner yesterday just sitting on top of the television.

Hermione was in total disgust at the sight of him. He looked like a pig inside a living room-wait- make that a pig pen, Hermione thought why her mother even married this man lying on the couch in front of her right now.

"When I call you, you come immediately!" His father said, his voice sounding rough from all those alcohol and smoking he's done. "Don't make me wait." He added.

"Well I'm here, aren't I?" Hermione pointed out which only earned her a glare from her father seeing that she talked back which was a big no-no in the Granger household.

Hermione ignored it and asked him what he wanted.

"Get me a bottle of the beer." His father ordered her.

Hermione went to the kitchen and looked around for any more bottles and when she found one she then went back to where her father was.

"Here," Hermione handed the bottle to her father before starting to walk away.

Jeremy looked down at the item given to him then to Hermione's retreating figure before calling her back.

"Hey!"

"What?" She asked him.

"This," Jeremy lifted the bottle. ", is empty."

"I know." Hermione answered. "You said a _bottle_, remember?" Hermione said, irritating his father. She liked doing it most of the time-you know, taking things in a literal manner because it kind of made Hermione laugh inside seeing that laughing was an extinct manner in the house now ever since her mother died.

This only angered her father even more.

"You stupid girl!"

"I am _not_ stupid!" Hermione shouted back. "I just _followed_ what _you_ said."

"And you gave me this," her father threw the bottle at her, missing her head an just inch before the bottle crashed against the wall into millions of small and big pieces on the wall behind her.

Shadow, Hermione's dog, was suddenly in full alert of the noise going downstairs. Leaving his chew toy, he quickly ran down the stairs. Hermione was about to stand up from her ducking position when she suddenly felt a sharp stinging pain on her cheek.

"That," his father started, "is for you talking back to me." She hadn't realized that her father had just hit her.

"Shut up!" Jeremy shouted at Shadow, who was barking and bearing his teeth at him.

When they suddenly heard the doorbell rang, they all quieted down almost immediately. Jeremy looked back at Hermione and threatened her that if anyone ever found out about what had just happened, Hermione wouldn't be able to get back to Hogwarts the next time she gets the letter that was welcoming the students back to school.

"Now get the damn door." He growled at her before going back to watching t.v.

Hermione stood up and walked out of the living room to get the door, Shadow trailing behind her.

Once she opened the door, she was surprised that Mrs. Johnsons was there.

"Mrs. Johnsons," Hermione said, shocked to see the old lady this late at night.

"Hermione, are you alright, dear?" The older woman didn't have enough time to greet her when she suddenly noticed the red mark on her cheek.

"Er, yes. I just, um, fell off the chair. I accidentally fell asleep and fell down." Hermione lied with a smile, trying to cover the cheek where her father had just hit her. "If I may ask, what are you doing outside?" Hermione asked the elder woman.

"Oh, I'm just taking my nightly walk every after supper. Burns off the excess fat and it was required by my doctor. I have been having these problems with my knees and she said that I need required walking." Mrs. Johnson answered with a smile.

"Alright, dear. I'll be going now." The older woman smiled at her, but the worry could still be read on her face.

"Good night Mrs. Johnsons." Hermione bid good bye.

"Good night, Hermione." Mrs. Johnsons replied to the young woman in front of her, before turning to Shadow, patting him a good night.

Closing the door, Hermione breathed a sigh before heading up to her room.

**~o~O~o~**

"_Ever since you came, my life has been a living hell!"_

"_If you didn't even happen, your mother would probably be still alive!"_

"_It's your fault your mother died!"_

The words Hermione's father shouted at her, stung badly even though some were already in the past. It just simply hurt her so much. Never before has Hermione seen the man downstairs act that way.

Taking her wand, she got rid of the stinging pain and red mark off of her face. She sat back on the bed, and closed her eyes, trying to collect at least a little amount of energy that has been lost. She was about to give in to sleep when she suddenly felt fur brush her leg.

She looked down and watched as Shadow hopped on her bed and lay his head on her thigh and look at smiled at him, remembering her old pal Crookshanks. That bottle-brush tailed, yellow eyed cat.

She missed him very much, who died because of somehow old age.

"Let's go to sleep Shadow." She told her guard dog before standing up and getting ready to get some shut eye.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **So this is the second chapter. I hope that it's ok and thank you for those who reviewed the last chapter of this story! THANKS ALL!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Missing in Action**

**~o~O~o~**

The day came when Draco received a letter from Hogwarts.

_Mr. Draco Malfoy_

_Malfoy Manor_

_Wiltshire, England_

_Dear Mr. Malfoy_

_We are glad to welcome you back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment for this school year. Terms begin on September 1._

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Head Mistress_

He packed his things the next day and was already done a week before terms begin.

"Here," Lucius handed a book to his son just before they departed from the Malfoy Manor to the train station.

"What's this?" Draco asked, turning the book over and reading its title.

"It's a guide." Lucius answered. "I'm sure there would be more in the library of Hogwarts." Lucius added, before leaving Draco's quarters. Narcissa then came in and sat on the edge of Draco's bed.

"Ready?" She asked him. He only nodded before two house elves popped in and carried his luggage out.

Draco then followed his mother out.

**~o~O~o~**

"Smell that?" Harry asked Ron, taking in a deep breath and inhaling the scent of the train's smoke, the smell of luggages, and maybe some animals too before letting it all out in one huff.

"Yup." Ron answered.

"Smells like going back home."

Hogwarts has been a home to almost everyone before, during and after the Great Wizarding World War. Many lost their homes and took refuge in the old and magnificent magical castle.

As they started making their way through the crowd and to the train, they stopped.

"Harry?"

"Yes?"

"Have you seen Mione?" Ron asked, noticing that there was one person missing to complete the Golden Trio title they held.

"No." Harry looked around the mass of people and so did Ron-trying to search for any curly hair around.

"She usually waits for us by the train." Harry told Ron, remembering the routine they had.

Unfortunately, when they arrived at the entrance, she was not there. It was already time for the students to go aboard the train for it was time to go back to Hogwarts finish their schooling. Inside the Hogwarts Express, Ginny walked through narrow aisles before stopping and opening the door to find the two best friends sitting quietly with worried looks/

"Where's Hermione?" Ginny asked, her eyes looking to Harry then to her older brother.

"We don't know, Gin." Ron answered.

"She wasn't in the train station." He added.

**~o~O~o~**

"Where do you think you're going?" Jeremy Granger asked, blocking Hermione's way out of her room.

"To King's Cross." She answered, getting her wand and book along with her suit case.

"You're not going anywhere." Her father said, taking away her wand in one swift movement.

"Hey!" Hermione tried to take it back but Jeremy was just taller than her.

"We made a deal that you'd let me go back to Hogwarts if no one finds out." Hermione said remembering what her father said a month ago.

Jeremy Granger only gave a friendly smile before slamming the door shut and locking it with a key.

Hermione was in total disbelief.

Shadow started barking mad at the door as his teeth were showing off.

She tried to turn the door knob violently in hopes of breaking it and breaking out of her room. She later got tired and just sat in front of the locked door. She looked around for anything helpful for her escape then her eyes saw the window. She walked to the window and tried unlocking it. Once her attempt of breaking out failed yet again, she took the chair by her study table and banged it on the window in hopes of shattering the glass. She tried again and again yet it wouldn't break. Putting back the chair and surveying the kind of glass on her window, Hermione's face went red with anger.

'_Bullet proof glass? How is that even possible?_' Hermione thought to herself and was surprised that she only noticed it _now_.

**~o~O~o~**

"Would you please stop eating for just a moment, Ron!?" Ginny told her brother, her face all scrunched up in irritation.

"I can't." Ron said. "I'm just so hungry."

Harry elbowed his rib looking at him in disbelief while Ginny groaned. "Maybe that's the reason Hermione doesn't like you anymore."

"All you think food, Ron." She added.

Ginny then only received a glare from her older brother before McGonagall stepped in.

"Welcome," Minerva McGonagall, the new Headmistress of Hogwarts, greeted with a warm welcoming smile, and getting all the attention of the students in the Great Hall.

"Welcome back students. I am very glad to see old familiar faces and brand new ones." She said, before starting the Sorting Ceremony.

Each table clapped and rejoiced after they received new people into the House and some older students already got themselves introduced to the new ones.

"Before ending, I am to announce the Heads for this year." The older woman said.

Looking down at the scroll of parchment she had, she looked back at the students who were waiting and eager to hear the new Head Boy and Head Girl.

"Our new Head Boy," She started. "Draco Malfoy!" The Slytherin table cheered loudly at this. Some students of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff cheered as well. But they were mostly Draco's fans.

Draco Malfoy, on the other hand, was quite a bit quiet. A lot of his fellow Slytherins congratulated him with a pat on the back or a ruffle on the head.

"And our Head Girl," The Headmistress continued, making the students silent again.

"Hermione Granger!" The Gryffindor cheered, the Ravenclaw cheered and as well as the Hufflepuff students. But only for a moment though because they couldn't seem to find the familiar and radiant face of Ms. Hermione Granger anywhere.

There were whispers and murmurs filling the Great Hall all of a sudden.

"Where's Hermione?" Some students asked the men of the Golden Trio.

"We don't know." Both Ron and Harry answered them.

The Headmistress looked at the Gryffindor table.

"It seems that Ms. Granger hasn't arrived yet." She observed before clearing her throat. "Please, do continue." Headmistress McGonagall told the students gesturing to continue on their feasting before she went back to her seat and sat down.

It has almost been a week now that Hermione Jean Granger's face hasn't been seen around Hogwarts school grounds. The library was just too empty without her. The Professors were getting worried about it and told Minerva to see what would be the reason to this. McGonagall told them to wait until the students were in bed and that they would pay Hermione a visit.

And that they did.

The Head Mistress and the assigned professors whom would accompany her in visiting the student missing for days then apparated away to the Muggle World.

**~o~O~o~**

Shadow was curled up beside Hermione, hoping that his presence would comfort the distraught girl. Hermione only hugged him weakly before her eyes closed up again.

Shadow has stayed by her side for all through the night for 7 days straight.

He watched as the moon lightened up Hermione's room, making some of her things glisten and sparkle because of the light casted upon them. Quiet as it may seem, Shadow's ears suddenly stood up as he heard noise downstairs.

Shadow knew that Hermione's father was already out somewhere, drinking and being merry with another woman. He then quietly slid out off of his mistress' arms and stood in front of the door growling when he heard footsteps nearing Hermione's door.

When the door swung open, Shadow lunged at the black figure and he suddenly felt himself freeze.

"Rubeus?" McGonagall looked at the creature in front of them.

"Don't worry," Hagrid was at the side of the creature they encountered earlier, stroking its fur in a relaxing manner before unfreezing it. Before the animal can gain access to his limbs again, Hagrid had already pressed a point in its body making it fall into a heap on the floor, still alive of course.

When McGonagall saw Hermione lying on the bed in the middle of a room which looked as though it has been passed by a tornado, she got worried.

"Hermione," McGonagall called, hoping that the girl was asleep and not unconscious.

"Hermione," She called again. When brown eyes fluttered open, the elderly women sighed in great relief.

**~o~O~o~**

**Author's note:** Hey guys so the internet at our house is not functioning properly which is really irritating and I am just impatient in waiting so long for uploading and downloading files. Sorry is I didn't update soon but here's another chapter. I'll try to update soon, I promise! If errors are seen, I apologize. Hope you like this one!

P.S. I am on hold in editing I'm Not Like Him because I can't do both things at the same time. I tend to mix up the stories which is bad... Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Veela Caught in an Awkward Situation**

**~o~O~o~**

Draco's silver eyes suddenly shot open and he was forced to grasp as much needed oxygen his lungs could take in. He was out of breath-that was a fact and his heart was beating very fast that he could feel it through his chest while he could just hear it clear through his ears. It was not the first time he felt like this. But whenever he did, he would be either sleeping or just plainly reading a book when these happened. Sitting on the edge of his bed and deciding that the pain in his chest, that was starting to grow, would not help him get back to sleep, he accio-ed the guide book his father gave him about Veelas and turned the light on in his room before he continued his reading.

_An offspring of a Veela and his/her non Veela mate is called a Half-Veela._

_If the child of the Veela and his/her non-Veela mate nears the age of 18, both parent will see which blood is more dominant, either the Veela or non-Veela blood. There is only little amount of cases that they are not dominant. But in most situations, it is confirmed that it is._

_A half-Veela has the same traits as a Pure one but they only show some._

_ Their eyes darken when they get possessive, angry or driven with lust. Wings only appear at the back as if to look like an angel. These wings are not the usual snow white color. But they are silver in color, rock hard as steel yet soft and smooth as a cotton. The scales and beaks do not appear since they are only half-Veelas._

_All of their senses increase in level, and the reason to this is for their senses to help the Veela in finding his/her mate._

_Mates are what Veelas need to survive._

_They were said to be essentially to one Veela because they satisfy them in all ways possible. They are the individual who a Veela would say his/her I do's and would stay by their side forever vice versa._

_A Veela is__** very**__ protective of his/her mate. In times when the mate is in trouble, the Veela's eyes darken as time goes by that he/she hasn't seen his/her mate to make sure that he/she is fine and is in good condition. The same happens when the Veela senses that somebody is getting too friendly with his/her mate._

_The mate must accept what he/she is to the Veela or else the veela will-_

Draco's reading was suddenly interrupted by his door opening up to a small dark form standing just outside of his room. Draco's eyes widened at this. But he wasn't scared, only surprised.

_What are you?_ He thought to the creature.

And as if hearing him, the form walked into his bright lit room to reveal itself to him. Draco saw that the small form was only a dog. But it wasn't small. It was quite a bit large for a dog. Its fur was made up of the colors of silver gray and snowy white. But that didn't intrigue Draco at all. Instead, it was its eyes that roused his curiosity of what it really was, because he hasn't seen anything like it before.

One was pale blue, while the other was golden amber. The dog suddenly barked at Draco, snapping him out of his thoughts. _What was a dog doing inside of the Heads' dorm? What was it up to?_ There were a lot of questions circling inside Draco's head at the moment.

The dog barked again.

Draco took its bark as a sign of attack. So as a self-defense, Draco took his wand and pointed it at the barking dog, ready to shoot if attacked. The dog was faster though, when it unexpectedly lunged for Draco's wand because before the blond knew it, the wand was out of his hand and was held into the mouth of the dog. And right after that, the dog was out of his room in a blink of an eye.

Chasing after it, the dog led Draco in front of the Head Girl's mahogany door. When he suddenly heard a voice talking and whimpering just through it, Draco became suspicious.

'_Odd_,' He thought to it.

Quietly opening the door, Draco's brows furrowed and searched through the darkness of the room for the weird dog who took his wand when his eyes suddenly spotted a form under the comforters of the bed. Thinking that it would be the dog, Draco walked in the room and quietly approached it. Before he could reach the foot of the bed, the dog suddenly appeared in front of him without his wand in his mouth.

"Where's my wand?" he hissed under his breath at the dog.

"No...Please..." Out of the blue, a voice whispered.

Draco looked around to see who it was.

"Stop..."The voice whispered again.

Draco then looked at the sleeping form under the covers. Walking to it, he carefully removed the covers to see Hermione Granger's face with tears straining her cheeks. Her face seemed to be contorted with pain.

_How did she get here?_ The pain in his chest started to hurt again. Only this time, it hurt even worse than before. Draco winced, clutching the cloth by his chest before taking another look at the girl in the middle of the bed. Granger only whimpered again.

"Help me, please." She said while her eyes still shut close.

Draco fought with his conscience whilst he tried to walk away but his conscience won. Walking back to the side of the bed, Draco could see her tears glistening in the little light the moon-surprisingly reappearing behind the dark clouds of the night - gave.

"Granger," He called, shaking her shoulders.

When Hermione only grunted, Draco called for her again, the pain getting rather unbearable.

"Granger!"

When Hermione started thrashing her arms around-hitting the blond boy in the process-Draco got irritated and annoyed.

**~o~O~o~**

Hermione's eyes opened up and saw steel gray orbs looking back at her. Hermione felt instantly calm at the sight of it. But then examining her state, she realizes that Draco Malfoy was straddling her waist and holding both of her hands above her head.

"Well, isn't this awkward," She heard him say with a smirk.

"What are you doing? Get off of me!" When Hermione felt Draco's grip on her hands loosen, she took it as an advantage and pushed him off the bed. With a loud _thud_ Draco grunted and Hermione opened the lights of her room.

Hermione somewhat felt violated, having the feel of waking up really early in the morning and the first thing you see is your worst enemy looking like he was doing something rather inappropriately to you.

"A thank you would be nice," Draco said as he stood up and dusted off imaginary dust off of his shoulders.

Then out of nowhere, the dog appears again.

The dog seemed to know Granger, seeing as it happily leaped up to her bed and started wagging its tail, earning a pat from her.

"You know that mutt?" Draco suddenly asked.

"He has a name, Malfoy. And yes, I do know him." Hermione answered with her brows furrowed.

Draco rolled his eyes, ignoring her. After a few second of silence, Hermione spoke.

"Um, thank you, by the way." She said. "Somehow, Malfoy, you actually did something remotely close to good." She added.

Draco only scoffed. "Your pet here might be the one to thank." Hermione only looked at him.

"If it wasn't for her, leading me here, I wouldn't be able to wake you up." He explained, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's a 'him', Malfoy. His name is Shadow." Hermione introduced the dog.

Draco only ignored it before answering with a, "Where's my damn wand, dog?" while facing the animal that was now seated beside his mistress.

"By the way, what was the Head Girl doing, while not attending her classes for the past few weeks?" Draco added, asking with a smirk.

"I-I have my reasons. And it has only been 5 days, Malfoy and not 7." She told him.

Before Draco could make a comeback, Shadow already barked, getting both of their attention. Hermione could only smile at her animal companion while Draco only glared at it. He stood there watching Granger give her pet affection while he looked back and forth the room for any signs of his wand.

"Hey mutt," Draco called the dog.

Shadow looked at him.

"Where's my wand?" he asked.

Jumping off the bed, Shadow retrieved Draco's wand and gave it to him.

"Slobbering piece of s..." Hermione heard Draco muttered angrily as he went out the room, wiping away the dog's saliva on his wand.

When Draco was finally in his own comfortable bed, his brain suddenly replayed the moment Granger woke up when her surprisingly warm brown eyes met his and how comfortable it was to look at it plus, he noticed the numbing pain vanished.

Draco shivered at this.

He shook his head, trying to wipe off the memory and tried to concentrate on his reading without being distracted by warm brown eyes.

**~o~O~o~**

**Author's Note: **As payback(in a good way) I decided to upload the next chapter again. Here I gave you the things you will see when Draco turns into a veela. I don't really like the appearance of a real one..you know...with the scales and beaks and all so I decided I try to change a bit but maybe some of you have read many veela stories and Draco looked like an angel when in Veela state. Clearing things up, I'm not copying ideas ok?

I hope this chapter's good. I'll try to make a longer one next time but please do bear with any errors if seen! and do review! I like to read your insights about the chapters :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Questions**

**~o~O~o~**

The time came when Hermione Granger had to wake up and get ready for the activities she'll be encountering for the day's lessons and classes. She had a smile plastered on her face as she did so. Shadow, sensing the happy aura in Hermione, wagged his tail and barked a 'good morning' at her as he stood up from his cushion seat beside Hermione's bed.

"Good morning to you too, Shadow." Hermione replied to him, giving her pet a pat on the head as she fixed her red gold striped-tie.

Just before she left her room, she stood in front of the mirror one last time before leaving her room.

She had her Gryffindor uniform on; her hair was in a mid-bun on the back of her head while tendrils came to rest by her ear and a few hair flew down at the base of her nap-too short to be tied.

She smiled at herself. She was finally at a place she felt at home. _Hogwarts will always welcome you home_ as they say it.

Slinging the strap of her satchel on her shoulder, she headed out.

When she opened up her room's door to the Heads' common room, her smile slowly faded at the sight of a certain blond Slytherin on the couch facing her. He had his feet resting on the coffee table while his satchel sat on the floor.

"Well it's about time, Granger." Hermione heard him say and watched him as she stood up and took his satchel with him. He then walked to the portrait door and held it open.

Hermione looked at him weirdly.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked him.

"Hmm, let me see." He started. "I am opening the door for a lady. You are a lady right, Granger?" He said sarcastically.

"Very…gentleman of you, Malfoy…" Hermione commented. "Just loose that sarcasm in you." She added, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Well if you must know Granger, I was raised by my parents with good manners and not morals." He remarked.

"McGonagall also sent me a letter, telling me to 'accompany' you to the Great Hall." Draco added before Hermione was about to walk out. Hermione only nodded before walking past him and out of their dorm.

When Draco's Veela senses suddenly caught the scent of the Gryffindor Head Girl, Draco felt intoxicated. She smelled so pretty yet pure. The scent, according to Draco, was simply wonderful. He hadn't smelled anything like it before in his entire life!

Then Draco, suddenly realizing what he was actually doing, shook his head and headed out.

When they were already in the corridor leading to the Great Hall, students were starting to stare at the two as they walked side-by-side. Hermione was right about the look of suspicion on students' faces. They even heard whispers that were quite audible like, '_why is Hermione with Draco_', '_Hermione's back!_', or '_Is she with Draco Malfoy?_'

Hermione now felt more uncomfortable than before.

"Relax, will you?" He told her, sensing the uneasiness in Hermione. "Aren't you supposed to be used to all the attention you're getting, since you are the heroine of the Wizarding World and one third of the Golden trio?"

"No, Malfoy. No I'm not." She answered him.

They were silent for the rest of their walk to the Great hall.

Then what felt like forever, they had finally reached their destination.

The chattering of students and utensils hitting their plates abruptly quieted down. Every head turned, looking in the direction of the Great Hall entrance door, where the Slytherin Head Boy and- newly arrived – Gryffindor Head girl was.

Both of the Heads felt somehow awkward in their situation at the moment.

When Hermione then heard her name being called, and recognizing that it was Ron and Harry who were calling her, she scanned the Gryffindor table until her eyes settled on a pair of blue and green eyes that were hidden behind spectacles. Once spotting them, she ran into their open arms.

The Gryffindor then cheered loudly and triumphantly at the return of their beloved Hermione Granger. As the cheering continued, Draco quietly went to his own house table.

He quietly sat down and was greeted by Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott.

"Hey, mate. What was that all about?" Blaise asked the blond in front of him as he took an apple out of the fruit basket in the middle of the table.

"McGonagall told me to escort Granger, a.k.a., the-person-missing-for-almost-a-week-to-the-Great-Hall girl." Draco answered.

The boys in front of Draco only nodded.

Even before Theodore Nott could utter another word, Draco's name was called by a familiar and irritating voice. And with a blur the wizards thought, Pansy Parkinson was already sitting beside Draco Malfoy cooing at him at how she felt horrible watching him escort a 'dirty' Mudblood to the Great Hall.

Draco only shook his head in disbelief. He hasn't uttered the word '_Mudblood_' since after the war. He was finally getting over all of that prejudice crap his father injected in his brain. He was shocked that Parkinson was still using it. It was so childish now.

"You were saying?" Draco said, looking in the direction of Theo and making him continue on what he was going to say earlier. Theo was quite a different kind of guy compared to the men of the Slytherin house. He was a 'softie' as Blaise have put it.

"Have you heard of the latest topics going out and about around Hogwarts?" He asked. Blaise and Draco only shake their head a 'no'. While Pansy, on the other hand, wasn't paying attention. She only kept hugging Draco's arm like a koala. A not so quite attractive koala…

"Someone told me that the Ministry was going to approve on a law that has been not used for a long, long, _long_ time." He said, looking at them as telling them to guess what law it was.

"And what law would that be, Nott?" Blaise asked, taking another bite of his apple.

"The Marriage Law," Theo plainly answered.

"Marriage Law, why would they approve on that?" Draco asked; mad at the thought of the officials forcing people to marry absolute strangers. But hey, Draco's family was actually used to it. But still, he was mad at it.

"They said something about squibs ruling the Wizarding world." Theo answered before taking a sip of his drink.

"Hermione's finally back." Ginny declared, hugging her friend tight.

"It's…good...to actually…be…back, Gin." Hermione managed to say as Ginny Weasley was practically hugging the life out of her.

"Gin," Harry called. "Hermione can't breathe." He told the youngest Weasley as he chuckled.

"Sorry," Ginny apologized. "I just really miss some girl company." She smiled at her.

"I missed it too, Gin." Hermione replied.

"So how is life, Hermione? You look like you're not eating much." Ron asked, lifting her arm, noticing that she got a bit thinner.

"Well…not quite." Hermione answered truthfully, retrieving back her arm from Ron.

"Why?" Ginny asked, sounding worried about her best friend's health.

"Well, you know dad. Never been the same since mom passed away…" Hermione said, leaving the rest of the bad part out. She immediately shook her head at the thought of her loving and caring mother and abusive and nasty father.

"Enough about me. How were the past few days here at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked, replacing her slight frown with a smile.

"It was not the same without you." Ron said, smiling cheekily.

Hermione chuckled with the crowd at what Ron said.

"Once we were in Potions class, Professor Snape actually missed you." Harry chuckled.

"What, how?" Hermione asked, sounding interested.

"He suddenly said, 'Put your hand, Ms. Granger'" Harry said, mimicking Snape's voice at the end.

They were all laughing.

"I guess he was already use to that." Hermione commented.

"We all laughed when he said that and when we saw his cheeks go pink." Ginny added, giggling.

"Other than that, everything's fine." Harry said.

Hermione nodded, before eating a slice of her blueberry pancake.

After finishing her breakfast, she sat with her friends for a while, chatting with them and catching up with what they were up to during their break.

**~o~O~o~**

**_THREE OF THE VEELA SENSES THAT ARE MOST HEIGHTENED_**

- _A Veela has the ability to know who their mate is through their senses._

**_Sense of smell_**

_ A Veela would know their mate by using their sense of smell. _

_Once they caught a whiff of their mate's scent, the Veela will, in some way, feel intoxicated and addicted to it. The aroma of his/her mate is one of the ways that will help the Veela keep calm from getting 'too' violent or will help prevent the Veela from going wild- in which the Veela may result into transforming into its bird-like form._

**_Sense of sight_**

_ A Veela would know their mate by using their sense of sight._

_This is a gradual part of knowing the mate of the Veela. This here is taken step by step and NOT to be rushed. When the time comes, this sense will let the Veela know who his/her mate is._

_A few Veela individuals shared their experiences on how they felt when they saw their mate in this category right here._

_One male Veela said that upon seeing his mate, there had been a luminescent gold surrounding her. This capability is rare since only a small amount of Veelas could experience it. Another Veela-who went through this also- gave a brief description about what he felt._

_He said, "I was like a blind man seeing the bright and beautiful sun for the first time." _

_His name was Griffin Dunham. He was a valet to the Levigne Family. _

_"It was the best thing I have ever felt" He added._

**_Sense of Hearing_**

_ A Veela would know their mate by using their sense of hearing._

_The sense of hearing, for the Veela, is one of the most sensitive senses he/she has. The other one is sense of smell._

_The hearing of a Veela is heightened thus, giving him/her more chances to hear a pin drop in a room full of people and loud noises. Although, this ability is more of the 'pure' kind of the Veela, and not of those who have already crossbred with other witches or wizards._

_Hearing senses on those crossbred Veelas have lower levels of hearing on PURE ones but higher than those of the normal beings._

_The mate's voice is pleasing to your ears, as described by other Veelas on their mates. It is sweet to listen to, and is comforting to hear. _

Draco sat on the edge of his bed as he continued on his reading. Apparently, there were so many things to know and read about that he didn't notice that it was already time for his daily patrols. Closing the book and placing it back on his bedside drawer, Draco refreshed first then headed out.

Once he's in the common room, he remembered that he was on duty with Granger.

Knocking on her door, he called, "Granger. It's time for patrol."

He only did this because he didn't want McGonagall taking away house points from him and not because he cared that Hermione would get in trouble if she wasn't in patrol.

**~o~O~o~**

They started down a hall where a Hufflepuff prefect was scheduled to patrol with a Ravenclaw one. They passed prefect after prefect after turning the next corner. The silence that enveloped them was getting quite uncomfortable for the two to handle so Hermione tried to start a conversation.

"Malfoy," Hermione called.

When Draco didn't acknowledge her, she called again.

"I heard you the first time, Granger." He pointed out.

Hermione just huffed before closing her eyes to retain her calmness.

"Can ask you a question?" She asked.

"You're doing it right now, aren't you?" Draco said.

"Oh you know what I mean!" Hermione said, before rolling her eyes.

"Fine, then."

"I know you didn't kill Dumbledore back then, even though-" Hermione was suddenly cut off.

"That's not a question, Granger. Please do go to the point now." Draco said firmly.

"What drove you to actually _try_ and kill him?" Hermione then asked.

Draco could only smile at the ground while shaking his head from left to right, thinking at how Granger was still so innocent at stuff like this even after the war.

"What?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"And they say that you're the smartest which of our age…" Draco trailed off before looking up and running his fingers through his hair before licking his suddenly dry lips.

"Malfoy, just tell me. I'm just curious and I haven't heard from any of my friends about you yapping all around the school at how stupid they are or how they act so dumb without the smart little mudbl-"

"I was forced to because a lot was on the line." Draco finally said, before letting Hermione continue on letting her say the dreaded word.

"What were on the line?" Hermione asked again.

'_This is going to be a long night…_' Draco thought to himself, predicting that the curious bushy haired girl was never going to stop any sooner.

**~o~O~o~**

Professor Severus Snape came in and the whole room fell into abrupt silence. The man in black started to walk towards the front of the classroom, his cloak flowing in his every movement while pointing is wand at the board in front with one swift movement.

"Copy and get to work." The professor said once the writings appeared on the board, his voice was firm and deep. Some of the first years and second years were immediately scribbling down on their parchments and then getting the ingredients at the back of the room while others took some ingredients from the left and right of the room right after finishing copying.

Hermione was still writing down the ingredients and procedures while Harry-her partner for the project- was taking charge in getting all the things they needed. Once finished, Hermione looked back and saw Harry already coming back with the needed components.

"So, what do we start off with?" Harry asked his best friend after putting down the things he had carried.

Before Hermione could reply, the door to the Potions' classroom sounded a knock before it opened. Everyone's looks were at the small Ravenclaw student walking in the room with a note in his hand. Handing the note to Professor Snape, the student quickly went out.

Everyone was more silent than before, wanting to read what was written on the piece of parchment. The note would sometimes mean that someone would be reporting to the Headmistress' office or someone would be pulled out of the class and be excused for personal reasons. But it was mostly because someone is in terrible trouble.

"I wonder who got in trouble this time," Hermione muttered to Harry before glancing back to where their professor was.

Some people gasped while some had their eyes widened while others merely made any reaction when they heard the Professor call for Hermione. The said girl felt her heart suddenly thump loudly. She couldn't believe it! She had done nothing wrong. Had she? No, she had not. She was obediently following the rules and not breaking any them.

"Miss Granger, please report to the Headmistress' office." It was all Snape said.

Without any protests or arguments, Hermione silently took her satchel –knowing that it was no use in complaining about what it is said on the letter-, and before she left, both Harry and Ron gave smiles of reassurance, telling that Hermione did nothing wrong and that she was going to be fine.

Hermione only managed to smile back at him, before leaving.

Draco, on the other hand, somehow felt worried. It wasn't in his nature to be like this but he was curious as to what could be the reason she was sent to McGonagall's office this time? He watched Hermione's retreating figure before her attention was called by his godfather telling him to get back to work.

**~o~O~o~**

It was supper time in Hogwarts and apparently, Hermione hasn't returned yet and her friends were starting to get worried about her all over again. The students who were with her in potions class had practically spread the news about the Head Girl being sent into the office, resulting into the whole school knowing of her absence.

"What would be the reason she's sent to McGonagall's office?" Ginny asked, sitting across Harry and Ron in the Great Hall. She had just arrived and had overheard it from gossipers from all four houses.

Both of the boys in front of her shrugged their shoulders.

"Did you do something about it?" Ginny asked, concerned of her best-girl-friend.

"No!" Ron answered rather defensively. "What made you think that?"

"Hmm, let me guess. You've been doing quite some 'dangerous' adventures for the past few years of your precious lives and you ask me that?" Ginny said.

"Maybe _Ferret_ over there did something and blamed 'Mione." Ron then shot glares at where Draco was seated.

"Maybe." Harry agreed, eyeing the blond boy curiously, trying to hint if he was up to something.

"What? You still can't over him? He already fought for the light and helped the Order in defeating Lord Voldy." Ginny pointed out, her brows furrowed and mouth open at the immature behavior of the men in front of her, defending the boy who was innocently and quietly eating his dinner, unconscious that he was being talked about.

"Why are you so defensive of him?" Ron asked his little sister with a scowl, getting irritated at his own flesh and blood was teaming up with Mal-Ferret.

"Forgive and Forget." Ginny finally said, crossing her arms on her chest.

"You think it's that easy? Once a deatheater, _always_ a deatheater." Ron already had his voice raised, earning a few glances from other tables.

"Hey, let just go back to Hermione and why she hasn't come back yet." Harry broke off the fight between brother and sister that was already starting to boil up.

"Fine." Ron and Ginny both said.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I'm actually surprised that 3 chapters in one chap is this long...ok maybe not THAT long since I deleted those pathetic parts in which I felt that Dramione is quite awkward and not acting like their selves.

Anyways, thank you to all and I'm so sorry I didn't update for a month because I was busy with a school play and animation project as well as Christmas. I almost forgot...MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Ok, sorry for any mistakes my beta's out of town and can't check it so I tried to re read everything but I'm still not sure if there aren't mistakes so if you find any, sorry...


	6. Chapter 6

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ok everyone, here's another update. I'm sorry if any errors are found or if you think some characters ARE OC since my beta is still out and about somewhere out there celebrating new year. I hope you enjoy this new chapter :) HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! :****

**P.S. I hope the chapter is long enough coz it's pretty long for me and my laptop =)**

**~o~O~o~**

**Chapter 6: Revelations and Marriage Law**

**~o~O~o~**

"Hello, Ms. Granger," The Headmistress greeted the student who just arrived.

"Good morning, professor-err-Headmistress." Hermione quickly corrected herself, not yet used to the new title of her old Professor McGonagall. "Sorry," she added quickly, with a nervous smile.

"It's quite alright," The women in front of her smiled.

"Um, Headmistress, before you say anything, I am truly sorry for whatever I have done and I promise to make it up to you as well as I would never do it again-whatever it is I have done." Hermione mumbled the last part.

"Hermione, you did nothing wrong."

"Oh," Hermione felt relieved but asked with a confused tone, "then what is it? Why am I sent here?"

"Well maybe you should read for yourself," McGonagall handed Hermione a small brown envelope that contained a piece of white crisp paper.

Quickly opening the packet, Hermione removed the paper-almost ripping the paper in the process- and read immediately.

_Dear Headmistress McGonagall,_

_I would like to request Miss Hermione Jean Granger to report to me to the Ministry. There had been a tragic incident in the Muggle World that concerns her family and I would like to discuss documents and other matters with her about her parents. I would also like to ask permission from you due to the reason that I would be taking her back to the Muggle world to take some things that were left for her._

_Sincerely Yours,_

_Mr. Griffin Dunham_

"Who is Mr. Griffin Dunham, Headmistress?" Hermione asked, looking up from the piece of parchment she held.

"He's one of the best attorneys here in the Wizarding world and holds only part of every person's…documents." McGonagall answered.

"When would I be going to the Ministry?" Hermione asked again, a bit worried all of a sudden for whatever was happening.

"Now, actually-come," McGonagall offered her hand to Hermione. They later flooed to Mr. Dunham's office and stayed for a while to talk everything through.

**~o~O~o~**

"Hello, Ms. Granger-it's a pleasure to meet a third of the Golden Trio." A man in a suit and tie stood up from his chair behind a wooden desk and offered his hand to Hermione who just came in.

"Hi, you must be Mr. Dunham," Hermione smiled her best and shook hands with the man in front of her.

"Yes, I am. I guess that the Headmistress has told you why you are here?" He said before sitting back down on his chair.

"Yes, she did. Is there something wrong back home?" Hermione then asked, starting the point of where they would be discussing everything from the heirlooms to family properties that should be kept or given away.

"Ms. Granger, I'm sorry but your father…just passed away." The attorney said, looking at her with a sad look in his eyes. It was easy for him to tell the person that their relative/s passed away since he has done this for how many years now, but when it came to Hermione's situation, he actually had a bit hard time. In this case, Hermione was the youngest person he has ever told that one relative of his/her died. He knew that after the Great Wizarding war, Hermione would be unaffected by hearing someone die yet the situation was it was her own flesh and blood that died.

Hermione could only stare at him is disbelief.

"He's gone?" Hermione said with teary eyes.

"Darling, I'm sorry but he was a victim of a shooting in a bar that he was staying in." Mr. Dunham said. "The medics said that he was dead upon arrival at the nearest clinic in town. I'm sorry that they didn't get him to the clinic fast enough." He added.

"Has there already been a funeral for him?" Hermione asked, a tear already rolling down her cheek. She wiped it before it even reached her chin but only more tears flooded down.

"There is." He said. "They were arranged by your neighbors."

"There is? When will it be?" Hermione asked.

"It already started minutes ago, Ms. Granger." He replied. "We will be attending it so I suggest we change our attire into something more appropriate."

The Headmistress was already dressed in a black robe that was fit for the 'event' and helped Hermione into a dress that fell just above the knees and a black belt that hugged her waist tight.

When they arrived on solid ground, dark clouds formed above and rain poured with a clash of thunder accompanied three umbrellas to Hermione's place. There were people in the place and there were cars as well. Hermione scanned for someone and as her eyes spotted the old and kind lady, Hermione ran to her as careful as her doll shoes can carry her to where the lady was.

"Mrs. Johnson," Hermione called her attention.

When the said person turned around and met the daughter of the recently dead person, she immediately gave a hug and said comforting words to the young girl.

Hermione's waterworks started and she can't stop it.

As Hermione arrived at the big back yard of the house, it was there she saw that the funeral was being held. She was surprised that there were a lot of people there. She never really actually knew that her father was 'popular' with people. She saw her father's schoolmates, relatives she never really knew and some neighbors.

"Please, do come in." Mrs. Johnson gestured to McGonagall and Mr. Dunham.

"You must be her principal," Hermione heard their conversation start.

The people in the back yard were sad, some crying while some only held the shock at the death of the person they once knew.

Hermione was at the doorway of the house to the backyard. She couldn't find the guts to walk from there to the coffin that was sitting at the far edge from where she stood. She felt weak.

A warm hand then held Hermione's upper arm, making her look up to whoever owned it.

"It's ok," Mrs. Johnson said, helping her walk all the way. People stared as they watched the daughter they never knew their friend had walk to the coffin. There were gasps and small whispers that echoed the area. When Hermione finally reached the coffin, everything suddenly went quiet and she couldn't believe that the man that help raised her was there lying unmoving, eyes closed and hands clasped on his stomach.

He was perfectly still.

She was officially an orphan to the world now.

There were a few people that approached her and said their condolences and left their numbers to Hermione in case she needed any help or just someone to talk to. Tears still streamed down her cheeks as she retreated back to the house's warmth with McGonagall and Mr. Dunham.

Mr. Dunham then started his work and walked Hermione to her parents' office. On the way, they passed by the living room where there were no more pieces of shards and beer bottles scattered on the floor. Everything was practically clean.

They walked in the office and Hermione felt like the scent-paper and ink with a new and old book smell- that welcomed her in the room took her back in time where she accidentally bumped a file making the papers scatter when she tried to twirl in her tutu. She looked around as Mr. Dunham told her everything that was said in the wills that were left. When he finished, he left her be and talked to McGonagall, telling her that make Hermione be marked as excused and not absent in the class attendances. As they talked though, Hermione went upstairs to her parents' room thinking that she heard a humming sound.

Turning the knob of the door, she then opened it and looked around, seeing the bed unfixed and things were in a mess.

"Hello?" Hermione said. Seeing that nobody was there, she continued in and looked around.

The vanity in the room was to a wall in front of the bed and was decorated with photos of her and her mother smiling and laughing. One of them even was moving, in which Hermione's mother was kissing her goodnight.

Hermione tried to wipe as much tears as she can when she saw more photos of her when all of a sudden, the humming was heard again. She looked behind her and saw no one. The door was wide open-just the way she left it. Right?

The humming was louder this time around and it got louder when she neared the vanity mirror.

Looking to the mirror, Hermione looked at her reflection and somehow saw something shine to her right. Looking to that back to that direction, Hermione could only see the strewn clothes and things her father left. Looking back at mirror again-only closer- she noticed that it was behind the mirror.

Quickly acting upon it, she pulled the vanity from the wall with as much strength she has left.

Seeing the back, it was only the plain green-striped wall and the back of the mirror which was completely flat. But Hermione wasn't stopping there-she looked for anything unusual between the mirror and the wall. Knocking on the backside of the mirror, nothing was there so Hermione went for the wall. She knocked and knocked until her knuckles were red.

When she found a spot that sounded hallow, she looked around the room for any tool she can use. When she found an old and small chair, she used it and banged it on the wall. And with a loud crash, that part of the wall shattered and opened up to a black hole.

Hermione, carefully walking pass the large chunks of woods on the floor, took a peep in the hole and saw a small packet that seemed to be unopened.

Taking it from its place, she turned it over and saw her name written in the familiar penmanship of her beloved mother's.

Opening it, a small locket dropped in her hand followed by a letter that flowed down.

_Hermione,_

_By the time you read this, it means that you are ready to know everything that I have protected you from. I am truly sorry that I am not with you anymore but I promise you that I will help you every step of the way. Always remember that I am always with you and I will always love you._

_Wear the locket and show to the world that you are one wonderful and beautiful scion._

_I am so proud of you, darling._

_With love and kisses,_

_Mum_

Hermione looked down at the locket and observed the intricate designs it contained. The chain of it was pure silver and the locket had a crest that Hermione had some difficulty reading what it said or what its symbols are.

Doing what her mother had written, Hermione wore the necklace.

Seeing herself in the mirror while wearing the locket, Hermione felt a wave of comfort and ease. Wearing the locket felt as if it was meant for her and to be worn by her. Seeing that this _is_ a locket, she tried opening it. She was unsuccessful though but it won't stop her from finding ways in opening it.

**~o~O~o~**

"Mr. Dunham," Headmistress McGonagall called the attention of the man reading some of the documents he had with other documents in the Granger office.

"What _exactly_ happened to Hermione's father?"

"Her father was an innocent victim of a shooting in a bar that he was currently in." Mr. Griffin Dunham answered, not taking his eyes off of the papers in his hands. "Apparently," he continued. "-when the fight was starting, Mr. Jeremy Granger was already heading out. And just before he stepped outside, he got shot along with other innocent bystanders."

McGonagall only nodded at this, and continued to look around the Granger residence leaving the man in the office.

Rereading the name of Hermione's mother, Griffin Dunham was stunned to see the family name, 'Levigne', in the paper. He knew the Levigne family was the richest and the most powerful family both in Wizarding world and in Muggle world. He knew this because he had served the family years ago up until today-but as a friend. Suspicion then came over him.

Why would there be a Levigne in Mrs. Granger's name? Mr. Dunham thought again, seeing that this may only be a coincidence of having the same surname. Yet he planned on doing his research again.

He was pulled back from his thoughts by a knock on the room's door.

Looking up from the papers, he saw McGonagall already finished roaming the household.

"We best be on our way, Mr. Dunham. It's almost supper time in Hogwarts." She said before going upstairs, looking for Hermione.

Packing the documents along with other folders, Mr. Griffin waited for the ladies to come downstairs.

A little while later, Mr. Dunham thanked both Hermione and McGonagall when they entered his office back in the Ministry.

"I will still keep in-touch with you, Miss Granger for further news on the other properties your parents have left you." He added, as he settled down on his chair.

"Thank you also." Hermione replied unconsciously reaching for the necklace around her neck.

Bidding good bye, McGonagall and Hermione flooed back to Hogwarts.

When they arrived, they dusted off the small amount of soot left over their shoulders before they stepped out of the chimney and into the office of the Headmistress.

Hermione stayed for a while as McGonagall said her condolences and informed her of the event that will be coming this year like the Yule ball. Before Hermione could be dismissed, the door gave a light knock.

The door then opened to Rubeus Hagrid. He smiled as he entered the room before greeting them a 'Good Evening'.

Hermione left before their conversation started.

**~o~O~o~**

When the women left his office, Griffin Dunham took a parchment and a quill and started to scribble down words. After finishing his letter, he sent it immediately via owl.

About an hour or so later, someone was floo calling him.

"You found her?" A man asked, his voice surprised and excited at the same time nervous.

"I am not quite sure if it is her, sir." Dunham answered with a sad tone. "But I found some similarities but there were also documents that were concerned that may prolong further researches in the future."

Griffin could see the small frown crawling up on the face of the man he was talking to.

"But I am trying to investigate to the best of my abilities furthermore about her and her background, sir." Griffin Dunham answered before heading back to his desk.

He then did what he said and researched to the best of his abilities about Hermione Jean L. Granger.

**~o~O~o~**

"Password?" The prince and his betrothed in the portrait asked at the same time. The couple looked exquisite and elegant. And so much in love-they were not those kind of betrothed that were forced out by parents that wanted to keep the riches nor add up the riches.

"Cor Draconis" Hermione spoke.

"Enter," said the Prince as the portrait swung open.

Hermione entered quietly, expecting that the Head boy was probably in his room already asleep since it was 10 minutes 'til 10 and he doesn't have any patrols to do tonight. But she was surprised when she saw her dog and co Head having a stare off. The first to look away was Shadow, seeing that his owner finally arrived.

"You're back," Draco Malfoy said in a bit different tone.

"Was he bugging the bloody hell out of you that you're almost past your bed time?" Hermione joked, scratching the area behind her dog's ears before folding her arms across her chest while she looked to him.

"A bit actually, Granger," with that, Draco went off to his room.

Hermione could only watch his retreating figure before rolling her eyes and thinking how Draco Malfoy actually changed-A BIT- after the war.

After freshening up and giving Shadow a bath, Hermione was dead tired lying and reading on the bed with her pet curled up beside her with eyes closed. When a knock sounded from the door though, Shadow had his unique colored eyes staring holes into the door with ears up high. Hermione then slid off from her comfortable bed and answered the door.

"I almost forgot to tell you," Draco's grey eyes looked at Hermione. "Snape told me to tell you about his announcement a while ago at supper time when you were in a 'meeting'-" Draco air quoted,"-with the Headmistress that the Marriage Law has been approved by the Ministry." Draco said; his voice was smooth as he spoke.

"Why?" Hermione asked, suddenly hearing a whimper from behind her.

"The Ministry reinstated the marriage law because they were concerned about the ratings of the population of people with magic-which is us and the population of the people without magic-which are the squibs." Draco said and watched as Hermione's eyes widened for a while, showing the curiosity and eagerness of her personality to know more.

Hermione watched as Draco leaned against the door frame before continuing.

"They said that the war took more than half of the population of the ones with magical abilities and only one third of those who doesn't. They put the Marriage Law back on in hopes that this is the solution in restoring back what was lost." He said.

"The law concerns the people from ages 17 and up, so Snape said that he and the other professors including the Headmistress, will be talking about how they will be sorting some of the 6th years and 7th years to their chosen partners." He finished.

The whole time Draco was talking, Hermione couldn't resist but observe everything different about him including physical appearance and civility. He looked more muscular now-Quidditch did him good-he also looked worry free, seeing that worry lines in his eyes somehow magically disappeared and those grey eyes of his that was darker back then and held so much despair and secrets were now bright and open. He was a bit more calmer and a bit more sociable rather than back when he was younger. The war changed him very much.

"And he also said that the sorting of all this was tomorrow." Draco's voice snapped Hermione back. Hermione tried to clear her throat first before speaking

"Who told Snape about the Marriage Law? Was there a Ministry Official in Hogwarts?"

"Yes, there was." Draco was about to walk away when he stopped and spoke.

**~o~O~o~**

_…there has _**_never_**_ been a Half- blooded Veela or a Muggle Veela recorded or heard of. There are only Half-__**BRED**__or pure-bred Veelas. The reason to this is because of the inability of a Muggle or a Half-blood witch to carry a child of a Pure-bred or a Half-bred Veela._

_A Muggle or a half-blood witch's body structure is too weak to carry a child of a Veela because the offspring will be too strong and the mother will eventually weaken by the 5th month of her pregnancy. The result to this is that the mother will sooner or later die along with the spawn._

_Meanwhile, observations have shown that the body structure of a Pureblood witch, compared to Muggle and half-blood witches' structure, is stronger in comparison. The story behind this is still unknown though, but there has been written theories as to why it is like that._

Draco closed his book and looked up seeing a newspaper being shoved in his face by his friend, Theo.

"It would be nicer if you would not shove papers in front if people, mate." Blaise chuckled as Theo pulled back the compiled papers.

**_MARRIAGE LAW REESTABLISHED_**

Draco began to read the article.

**_Marriage law has been restored!_**

**_After many, many years, the law has been brought back to life. The Ministry officials approved of this yesterday afternoon._**

**_They had put the law in effect for witches and wizards from the ages of 17 and up in order to bring back what was lost during the war and in order to sustain the magical blood left._**

**_They are to marry and have a child by the end of the 4 months given to each couple. When reintroduced, a few individuals had some few 'violent' reactions._**

Before Hermione could read the rest of it, the chattering of Harry and Ron was heard as both men came into the Great Hall. Hermione didn't notice that they were already a few more students around her. It seems that only a while ago, only Draco and her were in the hall reading the Daily Prophet.

"HERMIONE! You're back!" Harry and Ron exclaimed when she got their attention.

"Thank you for spotting the obvious," Hermione only chuckled. When Ginny came in the Great Hall and spotted her friend, she rushed to her side and hugged her tight.

"Good morning to you too, Ginny." Hermione greeted.

"We missed you yesterday." Ginny replied.

"Well I miss you too," Hermione replied.

"So have Malfoy told you about the Marriage Law?"

"Yes, and I don't like it."

"Why not?" Ginny asked.

"Well, first of all, the Marriage law are actually forcing you to be with a stranger you may haven't even met before. You would be totally lucky if you and Harry end up being together." Hermione said.

"I just hope we do end up together."

**~o~O~o~**

Before anyone could utter another word, the doors opened to the Headmistress and with her, a Ministry Official.

"Good morning students." McGonagall greeted everyone as she walked down to the front of the hall.

"I have here Mr. Aiden Sterling. He will be here in representation the Ministry and will tell you about the Marriage Law." The Headmistress gave the stage to the man in a tie and suit.

"Students, as you have been informed about the Marriage Law, it only affects those ages 17 and up. The choosing of your partner is by the Sorting Hat." Sterling lifted the old sorting hat, he himself, missed it since he was a student here in Hogwarts a long time ago.

"We are to partner each student by: Pureblood and Muggle-born-" When Draco heard this, he also heard a few Slytherins snorting and scoffing at this.

"-Pureblood and Half blood and Half blood and Muggle- born." Sterling finished off.

"The sorting hat would choose your partner later this evening which will give us time to renovate some rooms for the soon-to-be-couples." He added, before stepping down.

_Levigne_

That name kept repeating in Draco's brain. He already saw it in the text books his father sent him and text books here in Hogwarts as well.  
He was already off to the library after all his classes to research on the History on family when he spotted _her_. He was positive that it is her. _His_ mate. All the signs that was said in the books happened and it all happened when _she_ was around.

Yet one thing was still messing up his conclusion. She was Muggle-born, and not one book on Veelas said that he, a Veela, could have a Muggle-born as a mate.

He quietly entered the library and went to the area of books concerning all the iconic families in history. And that included the Malfoys of course.

**_L_**

**_Labrindis_**

**_Lace_**

**_Ladd_**

**_Ladenheim_**

**_Lancaster_**

**_Law_**

**_Leeyam_**

**_Lester_**

**_LeStrange_**

**_Levigne_**

Finally finding a book about the Levigne family, he took it and sat across the chair from where Hermione was in. Hearing him, Hermione then looked up.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I believe I am going to read a book, Granger." Draco said, opening the book to the table of contents.

"Why?" She asked again in confusion.

"What do you mean 'why'?" Draco said. "I am going to read a book to know things about the history, of course."

"No, what I meant was _why_ are you seating here?" She asked, clearing out her question this time.

"Is it wrong to do so?" He answered her question with a question, having a little bit of fun annoying her.

"There are a lot of vacant seats around you, you know."

"And I chose this one." Draco smirked.

Hermione was starting to get irritated.

"Look, there's nothing to be mad about. I actually enjoyed your company earlier when we went down to the great Hall this morning." Draco confessed.

"Oh, really?" Hermione said awkwardly, raising a brow, remembering that she and Draco walked down to the Great Hall having smarty conversations.

"You're smart and good to talk to, unlike the two dunderheads called-"

"Crabbe and Goyle?"

"Exactly."

"But how about Blaise and Theo?" Hermione asked.

"Blaise and Theo?" He asked, actually surprised to hear her say their given name.

"That is their name right?"

"Yeah, I just never knew you were on first name basis with the two." He answered.

"Well, they _are_ better than any of the other Slytherins."

"Oh really. And why is that, Granger?" Draco asked while resting his head on the palm of his hand, trying to look like he was interested in what Hermione was going to say.

"First of all, they are _friendlier_ than other Slytherins. And second, they are quite entertaining compared to most Slytherins." Hermione answered.

"Define entertaining, Miss Granger." Draco was still annoying the girl, and forgetting the book he was going to read.

"Don't get any dirty thoughts inside that head of yours, Malfoy." Hermione shook her head in disbelief before looking back down and continue her reading as if the past few minutes of their conversation never even happened.

Draco took this an opportunity to take a good look at the girl in front of him.

She was prettier than he remembered.

Her hair was no longer that wild and untamed 'mane' as it now fell down to the middle of her back in silky brown curls, which he had the urge to do nothing more than to run his fingers through it and see if it was as soft and smooth as it is looks.

Her face was flawless. There were no more freckles on the nose or the cheeks-only a tint of pink from her light make up. She still has those beautiful warm brown eyes that sparkle and that heart-warming feel when you look into it. And then there were her lips-her pink luscious kissable lips.

_Oh, dear Merlin._ Draco was already sounding like a poor sap. A stupid fool.

**_Levigne Family_**

_The Levigne family is the richest and most famous family in all over Europe-both in Wizarding world and Muggle world._

_The history of this family started when they invented a creature that was able to protect the next heir of their family. They were famous for doing that._

_At their time, arranged marriage was common. But only a few members of their family approved to this. Some members of the family would either run away, or get disinherited for not following what they were told. It would be rare of their family to love._

_Their family members were very well-taught in hiding their emotions to their utmost best. They were taught that showing emotions meant that they were showing weakness. Even smiling they were told that they were showing weakness._

_It was a cruel reality to each child to be taught like that._

_Each family member was guarded heavily since the kidnap ratings back then were high._

"Malfoy?" Hermione's voice called, snapping him out of his concentration.

"Yes?" Draco looked up to meet her brown eyes.

"Since, you know, it's the last year we'll be in Hogwarts, why not make a truce." Hermione already thought about making a truce with the blond over the summer since it really was their last year in Hogwarts.

"A truce?"

"Yes, a truce. We _are _already acting civil right now. And we-"

"Sure, why not." Draco answered. Hermione thanked him mentally for saving her from trying to explain to him further.

"So we're in first name basis now?" Draco asked.

"Yes, Mal-I mean Draco." Hermione smiled, before looking at one of the magical clocks hanging on the wall in the library.

"Well, we better get going." Hermione said. "It's time for dinner."

Borrowing the books-which they were allowed- they headed to the Great Hall.

After eating dinner, the students ages 17 and up were requested to stay. So there were only a few sixth years and all of seventh years in the Great Hall. But nonetheless, they were only few in totals.

The Ministry Official, Aiden Sterling, was there with a scroll and the hat in his hands.

"I will be announcing first those students who are in sixth year. Let us start off with Hufflepuff."

The sorting was fast.

Hermione didn't realize that it was the Gryffindors' turn.

The Slytherins were full of the Purebloods and only a selected few half-bloods. They were strictly no _mudblood_ allowed in their house. And as time passed by, there were already a lot of Slytherins angry about their chosen partner while others were just itching to die of irritation.

She was sad she didn't get Draco of course.

When Hermione's name was called, she still got the chance to glance at Draco's direction-who unknowingly gave her a smile, a real smile, before she stood up and sat at the chair.

She was hoping the hat would say his name.

_Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, _He kept chanting it in his head in hopes it would come true.

In Hermione's view, he saw Draco watch from the Slytherin table.

In her head, Hermione kept saying _Draco Malfoy _repeatedly. Her conscience actually thought of Draco. It wouldn't be bad if he was chosen to be her partner, right? She could put up with his taunts and tease and since they already made a truce, it wouldn't be bad. They were 'friends' now.

When the hat said the name of her chosen husband-to-be, Hermione face went pale.

"THEODORE NOTT!" It declared.


	7. Chapter 7

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here we are again, my friends...I don't really know what to say to every one of you except..."I AM SO VERY SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING SINCE LAST YEAR!" I think I didn't even greet any of you Merry Christmas nor Happy New Year. Although the topic about me not updating since last year is that 'Last year' is only 3 months ago. Anyways, here is chapter 7. I am already doing chapter 9 so that means that chapter 8 is done and ready to be uploaded unless this chapter gets a lot of reviews! Your reviews, by the way, are like drugs-they are so addictive =)) [I'm not doing drugs, ok?] At the end of this story, there is a sneak preview for the next chapter and unless this chapter will get a lot of reviews, I may not update the chapter yet so...yeah...sorry about that. I'm deprived because of all the work in school and the teachers and their subjects. It's a good thing though that on Friday, we're going home early! YIPEE for me =)) anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: unbelievable**

**~o~O~o~**

"THEODORE NOTT!" The Hat exclaimed.

Draco couldn't help but growl and bury holes into the head of the boy sitting just across from him in the Slytherin tables.

"D, calm down." Blaise told Draco quietly, placing a dark hand on the blonde's shoulder. Draco only took a deep breath as his reply and shrugged Blaise's hand off his shoulder.

He was right though.

Draco still doesn't know _all_ the things that could happen if he went into a raging state, that is why the potions that his godfather is giving him helps him keep his cool during school hours.

Draco saw Hermione glance at his direction with a shocked-and a slight sad- expression on her face. When McGonagall already called the next student to be partnered, Hermione looked away and walked back to the Gryffindor tables where her friends were seated.

"Wow," Theodore Know still had the expression of shock on his face when he turned around away from the sorting of partners and face his friends, namely: Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy.

"That was truly a shocker." He said, before turning his head to look somewhere.

Following the direction where his eyes were looking at, Blaise was surprised to see a girl. She was quite quiet in Blaise's opinion. She was quietly eating her dinner while looking at a book. She was a bit of a Granger. But only a little bit.  
No one can ever be Granger.

Blaise Zabini then unexpectedly thumped Theodore's head.

"OW!" Theo turned his head around suddenly annoyed with the person who whacked him.

When he saw Blaise, his anger enraged even more.

"Hey! What the bloody hell was that for?" He asked, rubbing the area where Blaise had hit him.

"Why are you looking at that girl? Haven't you been listening about rule number one, once you've been partnered to someone?" Blaise scolded him like a father to a son.

"Yes," Theo lied easily.

"Oh yeah, what is it then?" Blaise pressed more.

"Well..." Theo started, not really knowing what it was and not even caring what it was. Blaise on the other hand, rested his chin on the palm of his hand, acting like he was interested on what Theo was going to say.

"Oh, who cares!" Theo exclaimed, rolling his eyes in irritation, mad about the marriage law all of a sudden.

"You'll get yourself in trouble, Nott. And you'll get Granger in trouble as well because of you." Blaise said.

"Who cares? She just a stupid dirty old Mudblood." Theo said, eating a slice of an apple from his plate, lazily.

And that did it. Draco stood up but before he stood on his full height, Blaise pulled him back down to sit.

Draco looked at Blaise, who shook his head _no_.

**~o~O~o~**

"I still can't believe it." Hermione sighed, sitting down beside Ginny who was now getting redder and looking like a tomato. Ginny apparently was partnered to Blaise Zabini.

"I can't believe it either." Hermione replied.  
"At least you've been partnered with someone we already know and not with someone we don't really know." She added, making Ginny look on the bright side of the decision of the Hat in partnering her with Zabini.

"I agree with 'Mione here, Gin." Ron said, patting the shoulder of his sister.

"At least it's not someone we can't stand." Harry said, sipping on his soup.

"Like Malfoy?" Ginny asked.

"_Exactly_ like Malfoy." Harry said.

"I guess you're right. I think he's tolerable now, actually." Ginny said as a matter of fact.

"You actually think he's tolerable?" Harry and Ron scoffed a laugh.

"Yes, I mean look." Ginny pointed to the Slytherin tables where Draco was at.

Hermione, Ron and Harry all followed.

"He's quiet and all. And he seems paler- maybe that makes him tolerable; too weak to reply a comeback. And he seems buffer and -" Ginny was suddenly cut off.

"Buff? You actually think Malfoy is fit?" Ron asked in disbelief that his sister _may_ fancy the Mal-ferret. "You just said that he seems paler now than then."

"You must be joking," Harry commented.

"I'm not. Don't you think, Hermione?" Ginny then turned to the Head Girl.

Hermione who has been listening to the on-going conversation had her eyes widened.

"Don't-"

"Oh c'mon, Hermione. Don't you think Malfoy's fit?" Ginny asked her again.

"He's..." Hermione glanced at Draco again, only finding that he was staring back. Hermione quickly looked away her cheeks tinting a pink.

"He's good." Hermione answered.

"Good? _Just _good?" Ginny scowled at Hermione a bit. Ginny, of course, knew that Hermione fancied Draco secretly but she won't admit it to anyone.

"You know Gin, we're not even allowed to look at other people since we're sort-"

"Oh, blast it all! I don't care. We won't get caught-"

"You know what, just... never mind." Hermione said, shaking off the subject.

**~o~O~o~**

"Hi," Hermione greeted when she arrived at the Heads' common room.

"Hi," Draco greeted back, not looking up from the book he was reading. Before he could say anything, Shadow came running to her with a happy smile.

"Hey, boy!" Hermione greeted, putting her satchel down before petting her dog.

Shadow only barked in reply before lying on the floor asking for a belly rub.

"He hasn't disturbed you or anything, has he?" Hermione asked Draco.

"Not actually."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he kept coming in and out of you room waiting for you." Draco informed. "Occasionally, he's been staring at me and would sometimes bark at something."

"Like what?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," Draco said with a shrug of his shoulders, still not looking up to see Hermione.

Hermione only looked back down on Shadow and continued to scratch his belly until she walked to the couch across from Draco's and sat.

"So tell me," She started.

"Why weren't you called to be sorted to a partner?" Hermione asked.

"You and your questions," Draco could only look up from the book he was reading before staring into those warm brown eyes of his mate.

**~o~O~o~**

After quite sometime of Draco explaining the reason to Hermione…

"So you're telling me that you're exempted from the Marriage Law, which also means you don't get to be paired with anyone?" Hermione looked in disbelief at the boy in front of her.

"Yes, that is what I said, didn't I?" Draco replied looking up at Hermione before looking back down to continue on his work.

"Why?" Hermione asked him.

"Well, Hermione-" Draco started, secretly surprised at how easy it felt for the said girl's name to slip out of his mouth. It somehow felt satisfying to know that Hermione-_his_ mate- and he-the Veela- had now started a small friendship. But of course, they still had their downs.

"-Since I am _half_ Veela, meaning to say, that I am also a _half_ magical creature I am able to choose if I am to undergo the Marriage Law or not." Draco said before continuing on. "And if that isn't clear enough, I'll give you the basic answer."

"I. Am. A. Veela. I am not supposed to be _forced_ with someone whom I do not feel as my mate." Draco finally finished. "I might as well _die_ rather than be married to someone whom I do not love."

"Lucky you," Hermione muttered quietly that only she could hear yet still having the feeling that Draco heard her because of his Veela senses. It was quite weird for Hermione to listen to Draco talk about those Veelas and their mates and the sad sappy endings where the mate doesn't accept the Veela's love and Veela dies because of a broken heart.

"So, how are you finding Nott?" Draco asked after a long pause.

"He's…fine…" Hermione hesitant in picking her write words.

"Not fun is he?" Draco guessed, knowing what kind of person Theodore Knott really is.

"No, he's not fun." Hermione answered truthfully. "He's not _quite_ good to talk to. It's still quite a shock that he got to get paired to me. I don't know how that was even possible." Hermione huffed.

Draco sat down on his room's windowsill, looking out and seeing the Quidditch pitch with wizards and witches either joining in for practice or just to watch the Quidditch players practice.

Seeing figures flying across the pitch, Draco heard Shadow barking again.

This was quite irritating knowing that that dog kept him up after dark when Hermione was scheduled for patrolling while he wasn't.

"Stupid dog," Draco growled, sighing to calm himself.

He went to the study table in his room and continued his reading from where he left off.

**~o~O~o~**

_The Levigne family is known for their doing of making a creature that will be guarding their heir to the family properties and riches. The reason to this is because since they were the most well-known and richest family in Europe, a lot of people were tempted either to kidnap or kill the heir of the family. And since there were families of the Levigne clan having more than one child in the family, they were confused as to who would inherit all the heirlooms._

_This started a long time ago when Jonathan Levigne had 3 children-2 boys and one girl. Jonathan had no clue who, among his children, would be the next to claim the family's gold._

_He later then invented a method in helping him solve his problem and the problem of many. He gathered his children together in one room, before taking his eldest son in a secluded room away from the other two._

_Making his son seat in a chair, Jonathan pulled down the collar of his son's shirt just at the higher right side of Luke's, the eldest, back. Jonathan then took a small knife and sliced a small cut on Luke's back. Taking the blood, Jonathan filled it in a small glass tube. He did this to his other two children-Daniel and Daisy._

_At first, Jonathan's wife, Lady Marie Levigne, got furious with her husband for doing it to their children. She thought that Jonathan was going mental for doing so._

_He then explained to his wife about what he was going to do._

_In a small basin with water, Jonathan muttered a spell-he created spells that were only kept in the family- while pointing his wand on the water before dropping 2 drops of blood of his eldest son. The water turned red at the first contact of blood and water. But it then later turned blue._

_It turned out that his middle child, Daniel, was the heir since his blood turned gold compared to two of his siblings upon contact with the charmed water. After sometime, Jonathan Levigne then died of old age. But before he could take his final breath, Daniel promised to him to enhance and continue on his father's invention._

_And so he did._

_Daniel Levigne, at that time, did not consider the idea of each child in the family to have an unattractive scar on their backs. So what he did was not to change his father's invention but merely enhance it. Daniel-having inherited the family's ability to create new unique spells and charms-created a creature with his blood and with a spell that will let the creature recognize the one true heir. Some of his extended families then thought that he was going mad like his father. But Daniel told them he wasn't. Daniel explained that he created the creature with 'his' own blood to help the creature recognize the heir since his blood lead him to being the heir to the family heirlooms and riches._

_A spell was created along the creature-the spell's purpose was to let the creature blend in. The creature morphs into an animal based on the heir's personality._

_For example, if the creature morphed into a lion, this states that the heir is strong-willed, brave and majestic. Whoever the heir may be, he is to wear the necklace representing that he is next in line to the inheritance._

_The features of the necklace are: a chain of silver and a small locket in the middle. In the middle of that locket is a blood diamond. The blood diamond is not a metaphor. It is said to be that for the past years, it has kept a drop of blood that holds the entire knowledge of the Levigne Family .And a lot of witches and wizards wanted their hands to get a hold of it. Knowing every single detail in the family was worth a fortune._

_For now, they said that the locket was nowhere to be found. Some people rumoured that the locket was burned along with Daniel Levigne when there had been a potions accident in one of his laboratory in the Levigne estate while some said that it has been found._

_Half a decade later, the Levigne estate has been restored to its former glory after the devastating accident and the necklace was unexpectedly discovered._

_In a Friday afternoon, one little boy and his mother came to sit by the renewed gardens of the estate._

"_Don't go too far Lucas." Lady Marielle Levigne told her son before letting him off run around the gardens. Lucas, being the 5 year old boy that he was, went off exploring the bushes, the trees and other thins found in a garden._

"_Go follow him," Lady Levigne told an eagle who was guarding the whole scenery of the garden from a branch of a tall tree. The eagle then gave a screech before flying off following the little boy._

_Lucas, walking around, suddenly spotted a shiny object in the soils of the small clear fish pond. Kneeling down at the edge of the pond, Lucas reached for the object making some of the coy fishes in the fish pond run away and hide for their safety._

_Once the shiny object was in his hand, Lucas tried to wipe of the wetness and the dirtiness on his pants before taking a closer look at it. A screech was heard from behind him when the shiny object was slightly free from dirt and grime._

_Lucas' head whipped around to see his pet eagle, Luke._

"_Hi Luke," Lucas greeted happily before pocketing the object in his pocket and smiling back at the large eagle._

"_I think I'm hungry," Lucas suddenly said. "Let's go, Luke." He addressed the eagle._

_Running back to where his mother was having tea, Lucas called out for her._

"_Lucas Sentry Levigne! What happened?" Lady Marielle scolded, kneeling down to her son's height she then took a small clean cloth and tried to wipe of the dirt off of his pants. Lady Levigne was quite of a fashion person, hating if any clothes got any dirt or dust on it._

_When Lady Marielle felt an object inside the little boy's pocket, she asked him what it was. Lucas then told her that he found it in the pond all covered in wet mud. Lady Marielle gasped at the sight of one of the family heirlooms at the hands of his son._

**~o~O~o~**

Shadow just sat there watching Hermione walk across the room multiple times, his head turning from left to right. She had been getting ready for breakfast that day. It was quarter to 6 and classes doesn't start for another hour and 30 minutes.

Once she got her necktie done, she pulled her hair in a bun on top of her head while a few tendrils flew down by her ears, shaping her face.

Before leaving, she bid to Shadow, "Be good to Draco, ok? Bye!"

When Hermione had entered the Great Hall, Hermione sat down and started to read and write on her unfinished essay in Charms while waiting for Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.

A few paragraphs later, Hermione saw her '_betrothed_' enter the Great Hall.

Theodore Nott looked like he hasn't slept well last night from Hermione's observations. He had slight dark shades under his eyes and he looked a bit pale.

'_He's one of the playboys of Slytherin, what'd you expect?_' Hermione thought to herself knowing that he had another girl in his bed.

Harry and Ron then entered minutes later.

"Hey, Hermione" Harry greeted before sitting down with Ron.

"Hey," Hermione greeted back. "How are you and the Ravenclaw girl?" She asked him.

"Claire is fine. She's the shy type kind of girl." Harry answered. Claire Allen is a 7th year student who is sorted into Ravenclaw. She is one of the students who are included in the top 15 ranking of Hogwarts in the 7th year level. She has dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes that matches her house color.

"How was yours Ron? Still having troubles with Lav lav?" Harry asked his best friend, chuckling at the given nickname of Lavender back when she and Ron were 'together'.

"Thanks for noticing the obvious, mate." Ron answered back, scowling down at his breakfast before taking a huge bite off of it.

Hermione and Harry only laughed at Ron's reaction.

"Won Won!" Came the voice of Lavender, which only made Hermione and Harry laughed. A few students gave a look to where Ron was seated while they snickered, suddenly ignoring their breakfasts.

"Won won, I missed you so much!" Lavender babbled on.

"We've been only away for only 12 hours," Ron said, his brows coming together in the middle.

"Oh, but I still missed you," Lavender gushed on. During their morning break, all she did was cuddle to Ron and put his arm around her shoulder even if Ron kept redrawing it back to his side.

When the Great Hall was already full and the professors were present, Professor McGonagall then called the attention of many.

"Good morning, students." She greeted, doing the same routine of greeting everyone a wonderful morning before telling them the announcements.

"I'm am here to announce that there will be a Halloween ball in October. The ball is a costume themed and will be held on October 31 exactly. I will be giving further details later on."

After that, the Great Hall erupted into chattering students; students who were excited and students were not so excited about the news.

"I can't believe this," Ron sighed.

"We get to go to a ball with our '_partners_' who were only sorted to us and not chosen by us."

"Hey, my partner isn't as _crazy_ as yours!" Harry defended Claire who was seated a few tables away from where he was seated.

"Harry, Ron," Hermione called the two boys.

"I think it's time for class. Let's just continue your arguments later after classes." She added, slinging her satchel on her shoulders.

**~o~O~o~**

Draco sat on one of the chairs in the kitchenette in the Heads' Dorm as he watched the dog eat his food.

Then his eyes caught something shiny around his neck. Leaning over Draco ran his fingers on what seemed to be a chain around the animal's neck. Running his fingers further, Draco had stopped when he reached the middle and saw a locket.

He hasn't seen any animal wear a human accessory, because usually, it would be a collar or it would be nothing.

"Draco?" a voice suddenly snapped him out of his train of thought.

"In here!" Draco called out, recognizing the same annoying, know-it-all voice.

"I see Shadow behaved," Hermione observed, coming in the kitchenette.

"I heard that there was an announcement about a ball?" Draco said, asking more details.

"The Headmistress assigned us to decorate the Great Hall for the Halloween ball that is going to be held on October 31. The ball is costume-themed and we she said that we have to prepare the decorations already because it's in only a few days away." Hermione informed.

"Sure," Draco said, standing up. "I think I should go get ready then," He added, walking towards the exit.

** ~o~O~o~**

* * *

**SNEAK PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER 8**

"Here we are," Draco said. He opened the door and the sound of wind chimes ringed inside the shop alerting the people running the shop that there were customers.

"Hello," A lady greeted the two students who have just arrived.

"Ah, Draco Malfoy," The lady seemed to know who the blond boy was.

"How is your mum?" She asked, with a smile that was welcoming.

"Mother's fine, Madam Restrim." Draco answered with a smile.

"So who is this beautiful young girl?" Madam Restrim looked at Hermione and placed her hand light on Hermione's shoulder. Hermione smiled before answering, but Draco beaten her to it.

"Madam Restrim, I would like you to meet the Head Girl Hermione Granger." Draco introduced.

"Is she your girlfriend? Because it seems that any boy would be lucky enough to have her," Madam Restrim smiled.

"No, sadly she's not." Draco smiled a wry smile. "Hermione this is Madam Restrim, Mother's old friend and the Landlady of The U. U. Ornamentum."

"Nice to meet you, Madam." Hermione said.


	8. Chapter 8

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: hi again! I like the progress of the ratings/hits of the story! so proud! THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU GUYS! *virtual hugs for you!* So here's chapter 8, if any errors occur, I apologize. I was editing this mid-morning meaning to say I was being nocturnal. Anyhoo...ENJOY!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: A Trip to Hogsmeade**

**~o~O~o~**

"Can't we just use the old supplies?" Hermione asked the Headmistress, thinking about trying to reuse the things that are still able and are in good shape.

"We could, but some of them are missing a piece, and others were burned and destroyed in the past." Headmistress McGonagall answered knowingly.

"And we really don't need those ornaments to remind us of the past. I think it would be better if we are to put up new ones and some more vibrant and not old dull ones." The Headmistress pointed out.

Hermione only nodded before looking back down on the parchment she had.

"Any more questions?" Hermione heard her ask.

Both students shook their heads _no_ before they were both dismissed from the office. Their next Hogsmeade trip will be tomorrow and it was that day they are assigned to buy the needed decorations and supplies for the Halloween ball. McGonagall had said that it was a costume party. '_Be as creative as you can be',_ Hermione remembered hearing the headmistress say those exact words to the students.

The Heads walked away in different directions since today they had different schedules.

**~o~O~o~**

"Have you two ever thought of your costumes yet?" Hermione asked Harry and Ron as they settled in their seats in the Great Hall.

"No, we haven't." Ron answered.

"I actually thought of one, Ron." Harry said, looking at the boy next to him with a smile.

"What is it?" They asked.

"Zorro," Harry answered happily like a little boy. "-do anyone of you know him?" Harry asked.

"Yes, we do. He's the character who avenges the helpless and punishes the cruel politicians." Hermione answered effortlessly with a sound of how-cliché-the-character-is.

"How about you Ginny, have you had any thought about what your costume will be?" Hermione turned to the red head girl on her right.

"Yeah, I read this Muggle book that dad brought home. I think it was titled Little Red Riding Hood," Ginny said.

"Oh, yeah. I like that story." Hermione smiled when she remembered her mother telling about that girl in the red hood.

"I do too, how about yours Hermione, any ideas for a costume yet?" Ginny asked.

"Not really, but I'll think of something…eventually." Hermione smiled.

"So how are your lives with your 'fiancés'?" She asked again, changing the topic into something more interesting.

Ginny was the first to answer the question.

"To be honest, Blaise was nice. I don't know how he got into Slytherin. There's this just so much un-Slytherin-ness in him." Ginny answered looking over the Slytherin tables pass her brother's shoulder with the sound of shock in her voice.

She saw him smiling and fooling around with Draco and Theo- laughing and making funny faces. The small group of Slytherin looked so much like before when there wasn't even a war starting.

Ginny was pulled out of her thoughts by a nudge at her ribs and two snaps of fingers.

"Stop making googly eyes at Zabini, Ginny." She heard her older brother say.

"Is it wrong?" Ginny asked him.

"No it's not. Ron's just jealous." Hermione replied smiling.

"Of what, Hermione?" Ron asked her with a playful glare.

"That Ginny likes the person she has gotten partnered with while you're not… Won Won." Hermione teased at the last part trying to imitate Lavender's pitched voice, laughing. As usual, Ron's cheeks and ears reddened and Harry and Ginny started laughing.

**~o~O~o~**

"Theo! I didn't see you there, I'm so sorry." Hermione apologized before kneeling down and picking up the books that have fallen on the cemented ground.

"No, it's quite alright." Theo said, helping her with the books.

"Would you like me to help?" He offered her for him to carry the books she was carrying, seeing that she was having trouble with carrying it.

"Sure," Hermione answered. "- if it won't be such a bother to you though," she added quickly

"It won't, Granger." He said before he hesitantly took the other books from Hermione.

"Thank you," Hermione said, grateful that there was someone to help.

"So, where were you headed to with these stacks of books?" Theodore Nott asked, looking petrified at how much books Hermione borrowed from the library.

"I was headed back to the Heads Dorm." Hermione answered.

"Ooh… Isn't Draco supposed to be with you? And where is he?" Theo asked again.

"Draco's back at the Heads dorm and, um, no he is not _supposed _to be with me. Why?" She asked him this time.

"He is Head Boy isn't it?"

"Yes, and?" Hermione pressed more.

"Well isn't his priority the Head girl, the school and the student body? And not lounging off back at the dorm?"

Hermione only looked at Theo with a puzzled expression on her face. Draco was already done with his classes and wanted to finish early with his homework so he won't be cramming afterwards when it was time to go on their patrols.

"He's not lounging off, Nott. He just wants to be done with his work so no problems would rise up when we do our rounds later with the prefects tonight." Hermione said. "That is why I have these," Hermione looked down at the books she has, "-and those," she then pointed a look on the books Theo was carrying in his arms.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day." Theo suddenly said with a chuckle.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione Granger, one third of the golden trio, defending Draco Malfoy- the son of a Deatheater." He answered.

"Oh, please. We've gone pass our differences and rivalry. Is it bad to move one from the childhood nonsense?" Hermione said. "Plus," She added. "I am most certainly not defending him, Nott."

When they arrived at the portrait of the Heads Dorm, Hermione whispered the password before the portrait opened.

"Wow," Theo looked around the Heads common room, his eyes goggling at it.

"I never thought that the Heads common room would look so much like the other common rooms." He commented before stepping inside, still carrying the books Hermione borrowed from the library.

"I see you've arrived." Draco spoke up, emerging from the kitchenette with Shadow trailing behind him.

"Hey, mate!" Theo greeted his fellow Slytherin.

"How was Shadow behaving today?" Hermione asked Draco naturally.

"Still hungry, here-" Draco reached for the books Hermione has in her arms. "Let me."

"Thanks." Hermione replied. "Just it place on the coffee table."

Hermione went to the kitchen while Draco, Theo, and Shadow were left in the common room.

"Draco," Theo asked as he hesitantly sat down on the couch opposite to where Draco was seated after putting the books down beside the others.

"Why's the dog staring at me?" He asked with an odd look.

"Let's just say he 'calculating' you." Draco answered.

Theo looked at Draco as if he said something out of this world that only Draco himself could understand.

"Don't worry. He's more bark than bite. Well, unless if you happen to harm Hermione." Draco informed.

"How? And why are you calling Granger 'Hermione'?" Theo asked.

"Shadow –Hermione's dog- grew up with her, meaning to say that when her mother passed away, Shadow has been with her through the hardships her father made her go through."

"And how do you know all these?" Theo asked. "You're sounding cheesy, D."

"Shadow told me," Draco plainly answered. "And that's not cheesy," he glared at his friend in front of him.

"Right, so now you're a Doctor Dolittle?" Theo asked, remembering the Muggle story Hermione had told him earlier while they were walking in the hallway.

"A what?" Draco asked.

"Oh, it's just a Muggle thing." Theo said. "Anyways, I think I need to get going now." He was already standing up and was headed for the portrait door.

"Bye," Theo patted Draco's shoulder before bidding a good bye to Hermione who finally went out of the kitchenette.

"What took you so long?" Draco asked, noticing that Hermione was in the kitchenette for about 25 minutes.

"Hey, it's not my fault that I'm hungry. I didn't get to eat supper because of all the work the professors have given us that is actually already due the next day." Hermione said, pointing out the school works again before going back to where she was before saying good bye to Theo.

"Ok, fine. Sorry." Draco said, following Hermione back to the kitchenette. "Anyways, what plans do you have concerning the Halloween ball? We need to get things straight because we'll be going to our Hogsmeade trip tomorrow." Draco reminded her.

"Hmm…" Hermione thought. "Other than the usual black and orange colors, why not try the house colors of each?" Hermione suggested.

"That could work." Draco answered.

"How about the decorations?" He asked.

"Maybe the usual decorations for a Halloween celebration but more unique designs." Hermione said.

Draco only nodded.

"Do you have an idea on what your costume will be?" It was Hermione's turn to ask.

"Nope," Draco shook his head _no_, popping the P.

"You?" Draco looked into Hermione's eyes, getting lost again in the depths of the sweet golden chocolate brown eyes of hers.

Hermione only shook her head.

"Well, we better head off to bed then," Hermione said.

**~o~O~o~**

Draco and Hermione were now strolling down the cold and –surprisingly- snowy pathway of the Hogsmeade Village.

"So where do we start?" Hermione asked herself, looking at the parchment in her hands.

"How about we try the new shop that opened just this summer- The U.U. Ornamentum, which I think is just beside Gladrags Wizardwear." Draco tried to recall his trip to the U.U. with his mum to buy some decors for the Manor.

"Ok then," Hermione nodded, before she let herself be led by Draco Malfoy to The U.U. Ornamentum.

Hermione was actually thankful that it was beside Gladrags Wizardwear since she still had no idea on what to wear.

"Here we are," Draco said. He opened the door and the sound of wind chimes ringed inside the shop alerting the people running the shop that there were customers.

"Hello," A lady greeted the two students who have just arrived.

"Ah, Draco Malfoy," The lady seemed to know who the blond boy was.

"How is your mum?" She asked, with a smile that was welcoming.

"Mother's fine, Madam Restrim." Draco answered with a smile.

"So who is this beautiful young girl?" Madam Restrim looked at Hermione and placed her hand light on Hermione's shoulder. Hermione smiled before answering, but Draco beaten her to it.

"Madam Restrim, I would like you to meet the Head Girl Hermione Granger." Draco introduced.

"Is she your girlfriend? Because it seems that any boy would be lucky enough to have her," Madam Restrim smiled.

"No, sadly she's not." Draco smiled a wry smile. "Hermione this is Madam Restrim, Mother's old friend and the Landlady of The U. U. Ornamentum."

"Nice to meet you, Madam." Hermione said.

"Nice to meet you too, so what can I get you fellas? Any evens happening in Hogwarts?" She asked.

"Yes, there is. It's a Halloween Ball. Headmistress McGonagall told us to give you this and she said that you'll know what to do," Hermione recalled the exact commands the old professor gave her and Draco before handing the parchment to the landlady.

Looking at the parchment, Madam Restrim put out her reading glasses and started to read.

"Ah, I do have these…" she said before continuing to read.

"Follow me," She finally said after browsing the parchment.

They followed her through past rooms and rows of decors of other events until they arrived at a dead end door. Taking out a key, Madam Restrim unlocked and opened it.

They entered a room with numerous and expensive looking ornaments and others that it might be possible that you will actually get lost.

"So, here you have numerous choices and it's all been paid for." When Madam Restrim told them that, Hermione was the one who had her jaw dropped on the floor.

Was it too expensive? How was it able to afford such decors?

"Now don't be shy and just go look around. I'll be just in the storage room just beside this room on the left. Have fun dearies, and don't get lost!" She joked before leaving the room.

"Where do you think we should start?" Draco asked.

"Maybe the table clothing section," Hermione said.

The texture of the cloth was soft and not those types of rough cloth that makes your skin itch or that would mark your skin if you leaned on it too long. After picking on the house colours and other necessary ones, they moved on to the other section where they will need huge decorations for the walls.

When they were done with everything in the shop, Hermione and Draco bid goodbye to Madam Restrim and went off to their next destination- Gladrags Wizardwear.

Coming in the shop, Draco could see through the glass windows that there were already several people inside. He was actually thankful that they decided to renovate the place and make it bigger. The last time he was there with his mum, it was packed and he had to suffer the narrow pathways because of people filling up the place to buy clothing. He felt rather claustrophobic at that time.

"Hermione!" Both Draco and Hermione's heads turn to where the sound was coming from.

It was Ginny…with Blaise hand in hand. It seems that it wasn't such a bad idea that the sorting hat had put the two together.

"Hey, Gin. Where are you headed off to?" Hermione asked her, while the Slytherin men were having their own conversations.

"Blaise and I were headed off to Gladrags as well. I've already got the shoes that would match the Little Red Riding Hood costume." Ginny smiled.

"And Blaise? Has he thought of any costumes for himself yet?" Hermione asked again.

"He's going out as 'The Big Bad Wolf'." Ginny giggled doing the air quotations with her fingers.

"So he wanted the two of you to match?" Hermione smiled at her.

"Hey, he wanted it. So how about we go by pair." Ginny said, then turning her head to Blaise to tell him that they were now off to go inside.

Once inside, they now went off to the Costumes Section. There were mostly Hogwarts Students in the section of course since Hogwarts was holding a Halloween ball. Hermione went off to find her own costume while Draco went off to find his.

As soon as _all_ of the students were done, they headed back to Hogwarts.

**~o~O~o~**

"Hermione," Theo greeted Hermione as he took a seat beside her.

"Hi," Hermione greeted back with a smile on her face.

Behind Theo and Hermione or rather… a few rows behind them…

"Draco, mate, you better calm yourself down or I won't hesitate myself in putting you out cold this minute." Blaise said. He and Draco were not too far away from the sorted couple, and because of that, he could hear everything they were talking about. It was mostly about muggle things that Draco wasn't too much interested in. He knew Theo too well that he was already flirting with Hermione Granger at this very minute. Draco, of course, wasn't too happy about it.

The blond Slytherin then took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. He even remembered what Nott said, "_She just a stupid dirty old Mudblood._" Those were his exact words that made Draco's blood boil to the point that he had to get away from Nott. He was confused with his actions though-why all of a sudden Theo changes his perspective and attitude towards Hermione.

Class went by in a flash.

Almost all the students in each year level could only hear the chatters of other students about the Halloween ball for tomorrow night and how their costumes were, by now, ready and were already in display in their rooms.

Some students were even having a little competition on whose costume would get noticed the most or whose costume would be the most complimented the most.

**~o~O~o~**

"Is your costume ready yet?" Theo asked, helping Hermione with her books yet again.

"It's ready," Hermione plainly answered then asked, "How about yours?"

"Yup," Theo answered, popping the letter P.

Then there was silence enveloping the two as they walked down a hall.

"Theo?" Hermione called. "What is it then?" She asked, talking about the boy's costume.

"What's what?" Theo asked, kind of clueless that Hermione was expecting for him to say what his costume will be.

"Oh!" Theo then exclaimed. "It'll be a secret… Well, until the ball anyway." He replied rather child-like.

"But how will I know it's you?" Hermione asked, expecting that the secret costume would probably be involving a mask of some sort.

"You'll just know it's me." Theo answered, quite confidant.

"But then how-" Hermione was suddenly cut off.

"Do you trust me?" Theo asked her.

"No-I mean, yes- I mean I don't know. Isn't it a little bit too early for us to trust each other in the sudden 'engaged' state?" Hermione said.

"Well, yes but that doesn't matter. You'll just know. Anyway, I think I have to go now and -" Theo said, looking from left to right and to the left again, now spotting Draco and Blaise walking down the hall.

"-and Draco and Blaise will now help with you books. I really, really need to dash at the moment. Bye now!" Theo smiled before shoving the books to Blaise and Draco all of a sudden and almost running down the hall to Merlin-knows-where.

"Hey Granger-err… Hermione," Blaise greeted the best friend of her girlfriend-fiancé, Ginny.

"Hi," Hermione greeted the boys. "I'm so sorry if Theo-" Hermione was cut off, saved from explaining any further.

"No, worries. We'd be happy to walk you to… uh…wherever it is you're going." Blaise said, not really knowing where she was headed off to.

"To the library," Hermione supplied for him.

Both men helped Hermione in returning the books to the library before Blaise was called for a meeting with Ginny about whatever 'something' there was.

"What were you talking about with Theo a while ago?" Draco suddenly asked Hermione.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, reaching for a book on the top row of the book shelf.

"Down the hall?"

"We were only talking about the costumes. Why?"

"Nothing, just be careful." Draco said, trying to hide the concerned tone in his voice. He knew what kind of guy Theo was and what attitudes Theo hides.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"I know how Theo is when it comes to girls he likes, and to girls he doesn't like _but_ only likes to get laid with." Draco said.

"Well, I don't think that would be possible." Hermione contradicted.

"And why not?" Draco asked, a bit annoyed with her.

"People change, Draco. And he's one of those people." Hermione answered as she pulled a chair to use as a platform to reach for her desired book, forgetting that she actually had a wand to just put it away. Hermione's excuse of course was that it was better to do it the normal way.

"Well _some_ people don't. They stay the way they were before the war started." Draco answered back.

"The war changed _a lot_ of people," Hermione answered.

"Well there's still an amount of people who did not change and are practically in Azkaban." Draco said. He was already standing near where Hermione was.

"You know what, let's just drop the subject." Hermione said.

"Fine, just promise me to be-" Draco's reply was cut off suddenly when Hermione fell off the chair with a yelp.

"-careful," Draco's sentence was continued and finished when Hermione finally fell in his arms rather than the cold and hard floor.

Her brown eyes met Draco's silver ones that somehow felt comfortable looking into them. Draco could hear Hermione's heart beating fast as well as his. The Veela in him started to go crazy at this.

Then the intimacy was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Both Hermione and Draco's heads turn to where the sound was coming from and from whose was it.

"I expect nothing of this from the two of you at all," The potions master, Professor Severus Snape, said.

The Heads then straightened themselves out and were already standing straight in front of the professor with their heads down and red colors tinting their cheeks, embarrassed to be seen in such a 'romantic' position.

"Sorry, professor," They apologized.

Snape then walked off and left.

**~o~O~o~**

"Have you gotten your costume yet, Blaise?" Draco asked his best friend, who was seated on the edge of the bed.

"Yup, I'm the B.B.W." Blaise answered with a smile.

"You're the what?" Draco asked, not quite getting the answer.

"The Big Bad Wolf," Blaise said.

"Why in the world would you go out as a wolf?" Draco asked.

"Well, it was my idea to get matching costumes with, Ginny."

"And since when are you into matching clothing?" Draco asked, chuckling at what his friend had become.

"Oh, shut up." Blaise said. "It's for her anyway." He added.

"For who, may I ask?" Draco asked.

"For Ginny of course, you dumb bloke." Blaise answered.

"And what is she supposed to be?" Draco asked again.

"She's Little Red Riding Hood." It sounded somehow familiar to Draco. He tried to recall from any of the classes he's taken mentioned it.

"And who is that?"

"She's this muggle fictional character. Ginny told me the story and I liked it."

"But-I think-from what I have heard, doesn't the wolf in the story die?"

"Well there are these other 'versions', Draco." Blaise said doing air quotations using his index and middle fingers.

There was silence after but it was broken by Blaise after a few moments.

"How are you going to tell Hermione?" He asked. "About her being your mate,"

"I don't know. I haven't thought about it much." Draco answered truthfully. "I don't want to tell her right away and pressure her about the decision of being with me or not."

"But, Draco, wouldn't you die if her decision is to not be with you?"

"I will, but I don't care. It's her choice and I can't force her to do something she doesn't like." Draco sat on a chair in his room and buried his face in his hands and exhaled sadly-thinking that his life was in the hands of a girl who had been his nemesis since childhood.

But there was hope, right? He and Hermione were already building a friendly relationship. But still, Draco wasn't really giving too much expectations knowing that'll he'll get hurt in the end if he had really put so much in a particular thing knowing that it won't even happen anytime soon.

Blaise stood up and gave Draco a pat on the shoulder.

"I'll help you. And don't lose hope, mate. You'll get her." Blaise said, like a best friend he really was.

"How, Blaise. Hermione doesn't have much time to make small talk, especially when Nott's bloody beside her, flirting!" Draco exclaimed, irritated at Theo for getting 'too' friendly with his mate. Which neither Hermione nor Theo knew that Hermione is indeed Draco's mate.

"Wow, Draco. You don't sound like yourself anymore." Blaise said, surprised at how possessive his friend sounded.

"How can I not, when this Veela blood in me is practically controlling everything in me when Hermione's just there around the corner."

"We'll find away, D." Blaise finally said.

_Later that day…_

Night time came and Draco did not join his friends for supper in the Great Hall. Instead, he ate at the kitchenette in the Heads dormitory with Shadow. And immediately after supper, Draco went to bed.

Resting his back on the headboard of his bed, Draco Malfoy was interrupted when there came a tapping sound on his window. Recognizing the owl, Draco opened it up for it. Felix- Narcissa's owl- is a not so much of an owl at first look. It was really a crossbreed between a barn owl and a small hawk. Draco doesn't know how that was even possible but his mother loved Felix dearly.

_Draco,_

_How are you? Have you found your mate yet? I hope you are okay. Please be reminded that if you have found her, tell us immediately so for us to be able to help you._

_Feed Felix a piece of a small cookie and let him stay at your place. I heard that there will be a storm coming your way._

_Please be safe_

_Mother_

Draco sighed and sat back down on his bed.

**~o~O~o~**

Opening the portrait door, Hermione was welcomed by Shadow who was seated quietly by the fire-which was slowly dying. Bringing it back to life, the room felt immediately warm again. Hermione went to shower in order to sleep early and get enough rest for tomorrow's event.

When Hermione was at the verge of falling deep into sleep, Shadow's head shot up. Disturbed, Shadow hopped off of the bed and leant his ears on Hermione's bedroom door.

Whimpering, Shadow began to scratch it. Seeing that there was no luck, he came to wake Hermione up.

"What is it?" Hermione opened her eyes.

Quietly sitting up, Hermione quieted Shadow from his whimpers. Reaching for her wand, Hermione went out of her room and into the common room.

Hearing a muffled cry, Hermione further listened to the noise- trying to figure out from where it was coming from. Shadow was in front of her and was walking towards Draco's door. Guessing that the noise came from Draco's room, Hermione went in.

**~o~O~o~**

**PREVIEW FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER**

The next morning, Hermione was the first to awake.

Unconsciously, she snuggled to the warmth beside her but then remembering where she was and who she was with, Hermione's eyes popped open and was suddenly blinded by the bright lights that streamed through the curtains of Draco's room. Blinking several times, Hermione finally got rid of the blurriness and the sting in her eyes and then landed on Draco's peaceful sleeping face. It did not obtain any of those pained lines they showed when he was awake. It was smooth, no freckles, no blemish and just plainly handsome and flawless. And it was embarrassing for Hermione Granger to admit it but he looked more handsome in his sleep.

Not an annoying smirk in sight.


	9. Chapter 9

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: So hey guys, thank you so much for all the reviews I've received from the previous updated chapter. Thank you also for being so patient with me and for waiting for the story to be updated. It was already our finals exams so I had to review hard and surprisingly, it paid off coz Math and Chemistry was quite easy. Anyways, I haven't done chapter 10 so there won't be a sneak preview, I'm very sorry for that but hey, here's chapter 9. ENJOY! review as well ;)**

**~o~O~o~**

**Chapter 9: Once Upon a Thunderous Night**

**~o~O~o~**

Hermione could see sweat glistening under the light the moon gave through the windows in Draco's room. It's odd how the moon still lights up in contrast with the dark clouds already filling up the already dark and night sky, getting ready for a storm.

Hermione could do nothing but stare.

Draco's body was well-built through the years of Quidditch and it was well defined. Hermione could also see the past scars marring Draco's pale white skin one of which was of Harry's fault. Noticing that Hermione was already gawking, Shadow huffed, bring Hermione back to reality. A big looking owl by the window was already awake-looking around with its beady golden eyes.

Draco was mumbling and occasionally speaking aloud 'NO' out of nowhere and Hermione was actually surprised to hear Draco whisper her name.

"_Hermione, where are you?" Draco looked around, his voice echoing against the dead and grey walls._

"_Draco! Help me! Please!" Hermione screamed and cried from somewhere. She screamed louder this time and the sound of clothing suddenly being ripped made Draco's teeth clench._

"_No! Hermione where the hell are you?!" Draco shouted even louder, desperation in his voice already running to where the sound came from._

_Hermione only replied to him with screams of plea. Draco's eyes were becoming deathly obsidian black as his wings started to painfully break its way through the skin of his back then everything dissolved like a cloud._

Draco's eyes cracked open and saw Hermione in front of him.

Without giving a thought, Draco hugged Hermione feeling at peace right away. Hermione, on the other hand, was stunned at the action of her co-Head. All she knew was that she was in the arms of one Draco Malfoy.

"It-It's ok," Hermione stuttered in a hushed tone while rubbing small circles on the boy's back. When Draco's breathing was back to normal, Hermione tried to pull away but Draco only held her tighter to him. Remembering that he was somehow still in a Veela state, Hermione only gave in and comforted him even more.

After a while, thinking that Draco had fallen asleep on her shoulder, Hermione gently pulled away and looked at Draco-and to her surprise- was very much awake. He looked perfect under the moon's luminosity. His hair seemed to glow and his skin looked paler.

Hermione then thought that she misheard Draco talking about her to stay for the night.

"Pardon?" Hermione spoke out of the quietness.

"Please, just stay." Draco said, confirming Hermione's thoughts.

Once settled under the green covers, Draco then spooned her and enveloped Hermione in his arms before he breathed deeply into her sweet scent.

"D-do you want to talk a-about it?" Hermione asked, thinking that talking about his 'nightmare' would make him feel better.

Draco answered with a no and only held Hermione tighter.

Seeing that his arms didn't loosen up, Hermione gave up only feeling the tiredness from being up in the middle of the night. She was almost in Slumber's arms when a flash of light shown through the curtains followed by a loud crack of thunder sounded, making Hermione jump and yelp a litter.

"Are you ok?" Draco's concerned voice asked her.

Hermione only nodded her head in reply, hoping that he'd get the message in this opaque darkness of his Slytherin room. When another round of lightning and thunder came, all Hermione could do was snuggle deeper in the middle of the bed and make herself feel comfortable as possible.

Meanwhile Draco, feeling his mate's uneasiness with the storm, only wrapped his arms tighter around her, making her feel safe and secured. The Veela within Draco felt satisfied that he had finally gotten his mate _this_ close.

The next morning, Hermione was the first to awake.

Unconsciously, she snuggled to the warmth beside her but then remembering where she was and who she was with, Hermione's eyes popped open and was suddenly blinded by the bright lights that streamed through the curtains of Draco's room. Blinking several times, Hermione finally got rid of the blurriness and the sting in her eyes and then landed on Draco's peaceful sleeping face. It did not obtain any of those pained lines they showed when he was awake. It was smooth, no freckles, no blemish and just plainly handsome and flawless. And it was embarrassing for Hermione Granger to admit it but he looked more handsome in his sleep.

Not an annoying smirk in sight.

By the time Draco Malfoy woke up, he all of a sudden felt cold and abandon. Looking at his side, he felt disappointed- Hermione was already gone, yet her scent still lingered the covers of his bed though.

**~o~O~o~**

Hogwarts is now officially getting ready for tonight's Halloween ball.

Almost all of the students in Hogwarts weren't concentrating in class since today was finally Friday and tonight will be the Halloween ball. Many of the professors gave had given them free time since they knew that not one student would pay attention in their class.

"Look, Bea! Bubbles," An eleven year old Ravenclaw student called for her friend in the other table.

Professor Snape-since he knew no one would participate in his class- made his students work on potions within the category of something that would add up to the creativity of each student with potion-making concerning colorful bubbles floating in the air and bursting with fragrant scents.

Later in the afternoon, the students were dismissed early to get ready and buy any last minute things that were needed for the main event of the day.

There was a knock on the portrait door and Hermione quickly went out of her room and opened it to welcome in Ginny Weasley who had carried a lot of things in her arms and hands. Hermione of course helped her to the Head Girl's room before locking the door shut.

"I'm glad you came right away," Hermione said.

"Of course, I knew you would need my help." Ginny replied. "Now, let's get started then."

Freshening up, Hermione laid out their costumes while Ginny laid out all the make-up to be used. Ginny was fast in doing her make-up and was already done and dressed in her Little Red Riding Hood costume. Then it was Hermione's turn to be pampered with make-up.

"Now, hold still and relax." Ginny said.

"How do you work with make-up on, don't you sweat?" Hermione asked, making Ginny stop at applying a small bit of foundation on Hermione's face.

"I don't because that's just how my face works-now going back…" Ginny then started with another part of Hermione's face.

Downstairs, Draco sat on the couch all dressed up and ready while he waited for the head girl to come out of her room. Ginny already left with her make-up and costume on earlier since Blaise- THE Big Bad Wolf- came early to fetch her.

Draco stared off into space, thinking about what had happened last night. He could still feel her in his arms, and he could smell his sweet intoxicating scent lingering just around the corner. And just like that, Draco looked up to see Shadow walking out the room and walking down the small flights of stairs.

"Shadow," Draco greeted the dog. Skipping to where the Head Boy was, Shadow let Draco scratch him behind the ears before he wagged himself in a drying manner, dropping something shiny on the floor in the process.

Draco's brow rose as he leaned down to pick the object up.

"Odd," he said, examining it.

Looking closer, Draco felt as though the necklace seemed familiar. Words and pictures suddenly swam in Draco's mind until settling again with a photo of a girl wearing the same looking necklace.

Based on the books he read, the necklace looked definitely belongs to a Levigne. Although, how could it had gotten to the dog.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

The next thing he knew, he felt his jaw drop on the floor. His eyes stayed on the damsel that had just descended the stairs. Noticing this, the angel's cheeks then turned a cute pinkish red.

"I see you've found my necklace." Hermione said with a smile.

Draco looked down on his hand and behind him, feeling Shadow nudging at his leg. He then walked to Hermione and stood behind her. He tried to control the Veela urge within him from taking Hermione then and there.

Sliding the necklace, Draco's finger's caressed part of Hermione's neck as they lock the necklace in place. Then there was this small spark felt by the two. Turning around, Hermione thanked Draco while she held the locket. For a moment there, Hermione somehow felt like she wanted to tiptoe and kiss Draco on the lips.

They both stared at each other not even aware of what time it was.

Closing the space, they were only a breath away from kissing when a banging on the portrait door was heard. Inhaling deeply to calm the rapid beating of their hearts, Hermione was about to walk to the banging door when it opened and revealed a very red looking Ronald Weasley dressed in what seemed to be a sterling Knight costume.

"Ron," Hermione called, surprised at the sudden rush.

Ron was already standing behind one of the sofas in the common room with a flushed face.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked.

"Hiding," Ron answered.

"From what exactly?" Draco asked.

"Someone…" Ron answered.

Hermione and Draco only looked at Ron with confusion.

"Ron," Hermione's voice sounded annoyed. Draco only crossed his arms over his chest and stayed silent, watching as Hermione approached Ron, waiting for the redhead to talk. Ron Weasley told them about a Magic Eight Ball they found rolling around the hall and thought that they would investigate on it. Since they did not know what it was at first, they asked a lot of students about it until one student told them about it and what it does.

Neville and Seamus asked a lot of questions and some of them involved Ron. Whatever they asked the 8 ball like, 'Will Ron trip over a stone?', the answer was always a yes. And it all came true. Now, Ron told them about this particular thing that there would be a dark figure that will come and get him at exactly 7:21 in the evening.

At first, the Heads were quiet and unbelieving of his story when suddenly the lights in the room went off.

Hermione felt strong warm arms suddenly wrapped around her bare shoulders and arms and a hard chest was felt on her cheek. There was a lightning outside and a rumble followed. Ron was then heard whimpering behind the sofa as another lightning was seen. And from the door way of the common room of the Heads' dorm, a dark figure did appear.

The light went back on and the dark room was brightened and the dark figure still stood at the doorway. Only this time, it screeched.

Ron only hid himself more behind the couch.

"Lavender?" Hermione recognized the blonde under all of the make-up and black cloth. Lavender seemed to be in character that she had to screech loud enough to make Shadow hide in Hermione's room.

"What are you supposed to be?" Hermione asked the odd looking blonde.

"A Dementor, duh!" Lavender giggled before entering the quarters.

"More like demented..." Draco said in a low voice that only he and Hermione can hear. Hermione then elbowed the Slytherin and cleared her throat when a laugh was threatening to come out of her mouth.

"Have you seen Ron?" Lavender asked, looking around the room. Ron's head then appeared behind the sofa.

"Won won!" Lavender called happily. She ran to him and reached down and dragged him out the room. The clanking of Ron's costume faded as they walked farther and farther from the Heads' door.

"Bye, Hermione" Lavender called out.

"Uh...Bye," Hermione said to her but she already left with her best friend.

"Hermione," Draco called. "We better head down now before we get late for the opening."

"Ok, let's go." Hermione said.

**~o~O~o~**

"Ready?" Draco asked Hermione, offering his arm to her.

She clutched it when the doors of the Great Hall started to open at that, Hermione felt somewhat comfortable holding on to Draco.

"To start off," someone announced over all the loud noise of the Hall. "The prefects and the Heads have prepared a number for every one of you!"

They entered the Hall and once the music started, they began to dance. Hermione began to look around, seeing familiar faces watching them. Pansy, on the other hand-in the Slytherin area of the ball- was glaring at her with hate that if looks could kill, Hermione would probably be in her grave right now. Hermione only chose just look away then later looked at Draco.

Draco looked back at her with his silver gray eyes. He knew she had a lot of questions about his kind-being half Veela and all. Draco knew Hermione's attitude towards things that are still unfamiliar to her- especially when she can approach that particular someone or something.

Draco examined Hermione's every feature and observed every move she made like biting her lower lip when nervous or her eye brows meeting at the center of her forehead when she doesn't have a clue on something.

"Why did you ask me to stay?" Hermione suddenly asked him out of the blue.

"What?" Draco said. He knew what she meant. He only acted as though he doesn't remember a thing so she won't interrogate further.

"You know what I mean…" she said with a slight glare.

_But damn she's good!_ Draco thought.

"Look, Granger-" 'Oh, so it's back to last names again?' Hermione thought angrily at this. "Just forget that that night even ever happened."

"And what if I don't want to? I want to help you with your problems- especially the Veela thing." Hermione whispered at the last part of her sentence. "Don't Veelas die when they can't have their mates with them?"

"It's not your damn business to know, Granger. Let me handle this and I'll think of a solution." Draco growled lowly.

Hermione stayed quiet for a while, continuing to dance with her strange partner.

At the far corner of the Hall…

"Sir, I think that is the person you are looking for," A man pointed at the girl in white with angel wings.

"Are you really, really sure it's her?"

"Yes, sir. I am positively sure." Mr. Dunham replied to his boss.

"OK, then who is the boy dancing with her?"

"That, sir, is _the_ Draco Malfoy. The scion to the Malfoy fortunes. "

"Son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy?"

"Yes, sire," he replied.

"I would like to talk to him sometime, once my problems here are settled. Remind me of it ok, Dunham?"

Mr. Dunham only nodded at this.

**~o~O~o~**


	10. Chapter 10

**(READ) AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys! Sorry for now uploading for quite some time :( We went to Chicago and California for a month as a summer break. And now I am at a review center studying as an incoming senior and soon, 1st year college. I've been so busy that I was so desperate to write and continue the story after a few days in America. We also went to Wisconsin and experienced my first Snow Play! I can't believe it, I've finally had a snowball fight =)) Anyway, this will only be a short read because I am super busy with my Violin lessons for a while and I am currently getting over my writer's block. So I'm hoping that Chapter 11 will be up soon. If any errors are seen, please forgive me. I haven't been myself lately and I am still having jetlag coz of the time in the Philippines and in America and the other states I went to... -_-'**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Sponsor, Caught**

**~o~O~o~**

"What will be your next move, sir?" Mr. Dunham asked the man beside him, looking up from cloth of the circular table next to other tables of the professors.

"I still don't know, but I would like to rest for now." Mr. Levigne's almost grey bangs slipped out from behind his ear as she attempted to stand with the help of his cane.

"Alright, sir," Griffin Dunham took a stand and said, "We best bid Minerva and the others a farewell before we head out."

When Griffin looked back at his old friend, he saw a smile on his face. Looking to where the smile was for, he saw Hermione Granger with the same smile on her lips.

Mr. Levigne and Mr. Dunham then walked together to the table where the headmistress and other professors were eating and conversing.

"Headmistress," Mr. Levigne called.

McGonagall looked behind her and looked to where the voice was coming from.

"Mr. Levigne," she called back and stood up and gave a slight curtsy.

"Please, Headmistress, none of that." Mr. Levigne said and took her hand and kissed the back of it.

"Thank you very much for everything," McGonagall said.

"You're very welcome." Mr. Levigne replied. "But I would also like to be the sponsor for the next ball, maybe the graduation ball?" He asked.

"Mr. Levigne, this is already enough-"

"No, please, let me. I wouldn't be living for long and the inheritance will just be taken by the Ministry." The almost grey haired man answered. "Might as well spend it now," he added shortly.

"Thank you so much, sir." McGonagall thanked him again.

"Well, we will be going now, Headmistress." Mr. Dunham said.

"Ok, then. Have a safe trip." McGonagall said with a smile, watching the two men walk away from the room.

**~o~O~o~**

"What happened to you?" Hermione walked to the table where her friend Harry was at.

"Lavender took off with Ron," Harry plainly answered.

"They never came back. It's been a good 30 minutes already, actually." Ginny added, walking in the scene with her arms clinging to Blaise's bare muscled one. Hermione was still surprised at how Ms. Little Red Riding Hood -a.k.a Ginny- be _this_ close –in terms of relationships- to Blaise already. She was rather jealous at how open and natural the two '_engaged_' couple were right now.

"What are you wearing?" Draco, who was beside Hermione, suddenly spoke up, sounding astounded at his friend's '_costume_'. Wearing only a pair of grey denim pants with a pair of black chucks and a wolf headdress, Blaise was practically walking half-naked in the great hall.

"I told him a lot of times to put at least a sando on, but no…" Ginny extended the letter 'O'.

"What, it's not like a wolf wears a shirt, Gin." Blaise said, gesturing to his Quidditch built body to his fiancé. Hermione felt the aura of playfulness in the couple in front of her, seeing them tickling each other and making faces at their partner arguing about the tall and dark handsome Italian wearing a shirt.

"Mate, wear a shirt. Seriously." Draco, patting Blaise's back.

"Why, I feel quite free and-" Blaise was cut short by Ginny, who just smacked his arm hard, cutting off his flexing gestures and making him wince and say 'Ow' at the redhead.

"Blaise, women are starting to look." Hermione said, looking around the party with said women in different costumes, eyeing the boy in a wolf headdress seeing him as a sweet and must-have candy.

"Ms. Hermione, women were _already_ looking." Blaise grinned at the petite angel in front of him. At this, Draco then eyed Blaise with a deathly warning glare, and immediately, Blaise backed off.

"Anyway, shouldn't you be with your date?" Harry spoke up, after receiving a drink from Claire who was dressed as a Rapunzel of one of the Brothers Grimm stories. Her dirty blond hair grew about more than floor length while she wore a pink beautiful dress. Her hair by the way was braided beautifully.

"Well apparently, my date is nowhere to be found. I haven't seen Theo since the start of the party." Hermione said as she now looked from left to right, scanning the Great Hall.

"Isn't Draco your date?" Ginny asked, secretly hinting her girlfriend, about Hermione's childish crush on Draco.

"Sadly, no." Draco answered, no matter how it hurt him to say it. "I asked Pansy since she was still available."

"Mate, good luck." Blaise told his friend, putting a hand on the blonde's shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

"Blaise, no matter how much Felix Felicis I drink, I won't have enough luck when I'm with her." Draco said.

"OK, mate." Blaise said. "You best be on your way now, then-before the banshee goes mental because of your absence."

Draco nodded at him and bid a, "See you later," to everyone before he headed to look for the said banshee. He avoided obstacles of couples dancing and group of friends laughing as he made his way in the corners of the hall to avoid the center where couples were dancing their aching feet out. While on his way, he passed by Weasel and Brown snogging at a corner isolated from others, and with a little more walk later, a surprising sight before him.

**~o~O~o~**

"So you finally wore a shirt?" Draco's voice interrupted the conversation between Blaise, Ginny, Hermione, Harry and Claire. It has only been 5 minutes since he left and now he's back with a look that spelled I-know-something-no-one-knows.

"What's wrong? Where's Pansy?" Hermione asked, turning her direction to where the voice was coming from.

"You're back already?" Blaise, who was now wearing a black sando, said.

"Yes, I am back already." Draco answered back.

"But why?" Harry said.

"What do you mean _why_?" Draco said, stepping into the circle of conversation. "Apparently, I know why our dates are missing in action," Draco gestured to him and Hermione.

"And what do you know?" Hermione asked.

"Well," Draco started. "Just around the corner, Pansy and Theo are '_busy_' per se." He said.

"Wouldn't they get punished? You know, because of the Marriage Law?" Draco looked at Claire, whom he finally heard her speak.

"Yes, they already are," Draco pointed his look to the doors of the Great Hall opening. All eyes watched the scene as Pansy and Theo were dragged by men in black to the Headmistress office.

"Hey," Ron called, arriving with Lavender and a drink in hand.

"Did we miss anything?" He asked with a smiling Lavender.

**~o~O~o~**


End file.
